Kathmandu, January 9
Following the decision of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to reduce fuel prices in the domestic market, airline operators have also slashed their fuel surcharge - the cost included in the airfare- by up to Rs 885, depending on the respective destinations.
Issuing a statement today, the AOAN has said that the fares of air tickets tend to decrease between Rs 100 and Rs 900 based on their respective destinations if the price of domestic aviation fuel falls by Rs 20 per litre. As a result, the association has decreased the fuel surcharge cost. Hence, the airfare for mountain flights from Kathmandu has been reduced by Rs 685 to Rs 14,205 per ticket, Kathmandu-Bhadrapur by Rs 600 to Rs 12,355 per ticket, Kathmandu-Biratnagar by Rs 485 to Rs 9,720 per ticket, Kathmandu-Janakpur by Rs 260 to Rs 5,600 per ticket, Kathmandu-Bharatpur by Rs 215 to Rs 4,775 per ticket, Kathmandu-Pokhara by Rs 320 to Rs 6,665 per ticket, Kathmandu-Bhairahawa by Rs 410 to Rs 8,265 per ticket, Kathmandu-Nepalgunj by Rs 655 to Rs 13,325 per ticket, Kathmandu-Tumlingtar by Rs 370 to Rs 7,835 per ticket, Kathmandu-Surkhet by Rs 690 to Rs 14,306 per ticket, and Kathmandu-Rajbiraj by Rs 411 to Rs 8,344 per ticket.
The fuel surcharge for the longest domestic air route, Kathmandu-Dhading has been reduced by Rs 885 to Rs 16,140 per ticket, while the price ticket for the shortest air route in the country, Kathmandu-Simara has also been brought down by Rs 180 to Rs 4,060 per ticket.
According to AOAN, the new prices will be effective from January 11.
On Sunday, the NOC slashed the prices of domestic aviation fuel by Rs 20 to Rs 170 per litre and international aviation fuel by Rs 30 per litre. Likewise, the corporation reduced the price of petrol, diesel, and kerosene by three rupees each.
With this, the price of petrol now stands at Rs 175 per litre in the domestic market, and diesel and kerosene at Rs 172 a litre each. Meanwhile, the NOC has maintained the prices of liquid petroleum gas at Rs 1,800 per cylinder.
The price of fuel had been reduced in the domestic market although the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) had increased the price of petrol by Rs 2.56 per litre, diesel by Rs 2.95 per litre, aviation fuel by Rs 4.13 per litre, and LPG by Rs 78.22 per cylinder on January 1. Although the NOC had initially decided to maintain the fuel prices in the domestic market after receiving the newly revised list of fuel prices from the IOC, the price of petroleum products was slashed as the corporation will still make some profit over the next 15 days.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 10, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
