India, June 4 -- Facing soaring costs across fronts, airlines in India sounded the alarm to the authorities. The government has announced a Rs.10,000-crore support to stabilise aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices - oil marketing companies' losses from sales to airlines will be offset from this fund.

While the latest measure will definitely help to an extent, it is not the answer to all the airlines' woes which seem to be mounting amid uncertainties. A deeper dive and a more permanent solution to the disparity in ATF pricing vis-a-vis international carriers will be required in the longer term. This financial year (FY27) began on a particularly dismal note: For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, traffic crawled to a virtual standst...