South Asian Business news and information

Kuensel Online reports:

It is also timely for the national airline as passenger numbers drop in July, August and September, the lean season for tourists visiting Bhutan. “We sometimes have only about 20 passengers when we can carry 114 and, with the increase in the fuel price everywhere in the world, it has now become imperative to maintain costs,” said the deputy managing director of the Druk Air, Tandin Jamtsho, who went on to add that 45 percent of the airline operating cost goes on fuel.

He went on to say that the management was also contemplating increasing airfares. “We’ll be able to work out the airfare in a week’s time and we want to fix the fare by comparing it to the other competitive airlines,” said Tandin Jamtsho. “We’ll make sure that the rise in the airfare will be marginal so that it doesn’t pinch passenger pockets.”

Rinzin Dorji, a finance officer of Druk Air said that since the middle of last year, the fuel price suddenly went up. Before that, the fuel price varied from month to month. With the start of autumn tourist season from October, Druk Air will resume its regular air timetable. 

Well, it is not only Druk Air but major airlines all over the world that are suffering from fuel price hikes. Last month, American Airlines, the largest airlines in the world has declared to cut jobs, remove less fuel-efficient old planes and reduce its domestic capacity by 11%-12% in the face of rising fuel price. In addition, the airlines also declared to charge $15 for the first checked bags of each passenger.

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Kuensel Online

Reuters