India, April 29 -- The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, in a letter dated April 26, to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, has warned that the aviation sector is facing "extreme stress" due to soaring Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices. The group said the situation has practically made international operations, along with domestic operations, completely unviable and resulted in significant losses for the aviation sector in April.

"Since ATF happens to be 30 per cent to 40 per cent of airlines cost, this unprecedented increase in ATF cost has moved the airlines operation cost from 30 per cent-40 per cent to 55 per cent-60 per cent, creating completely non-operatable conditions for airlines....