IndiGo raises fuel charges from Tuesday after ATF jumps more than 14 percent

IndiGo on Monday raised the fuel surcharge on domestic and international tickets, citing a month-on-month jump in aviation turbine fuel of more than 14 percent. The airline said the increase took fuel costs to among the highest levels of the past decade. The new charges apply to bookings made from 00:01 on Tuesday 6 October. Tickets already issued are outside the change. This is the second revision since IndiGo introduced the surcharge in March, and the first since the scale set in April.

Business Standard published the domestic table. Flights up to 500 km rise from ₹275 to ₹375. Sectors of 501 to 1,000 km rise from ₹400 to ₹600. Sectors of 1,001 to 1,500 km rise from ₹600 to ₹900, a 50 percent increase. Sectors of 1,501 to 2,000 km rise from ₹800 to ₹1,150. Sectors above 2,000 km rise from ₹950 to ₹1,300. India Today carried the same upper bands: ₹900, ₹1,150 and ₹1,300. The domestic range is now ₹375 to ₹1,300, against ₹275 to ₹950 in April.

International bands

On SAARC routes the surcharge is ₹1,000 up to 500 km, against ₹900 in April, and ₹3,000 above 500 km. South East Asia, the Gulf and Middle East, and North and East Asia go to ₹5,500, an increase of ₹500 on the India Today account. Africa goes to ₹6,000. Europe stays at ₹10,000. A passenger booking Delhi-Dubai or Mumbai-Singapore on Tuesday pays the higher Gulf or South East Asia figure. A passenger booked on Monday does not.

The surcharge is a line on the fare, not a change in the base fare filed with the regulator. IndiGo is the largest Indian carrier by domestic share. A charge that moves with ATF lets the airline pass a fuel spike without reprinting every fare bucket. It also shows up in the total a passenger sees after the base fare, on a booking path that already adds user-development fees and taxes. The 14 percent ATF move is the company's stated trigger. The airline did not publish the rupee-per-litre figure behind that percentage.

Why the short sectors moved less

The smallest absolute rise is ₹100 on flights under 500 km. The largest absolute rise on domestic routes is ₹350, on sectors over 2,000 km. In percentage terms the middle band moved most: 1,001 to 1,500 km, up by half. That band covers a large share of metro-to-metro flying, including Delhi-Mumbai on some routings and many south-north city pairs. A family of four on a new booking in that band pays ₹1,200 more in fuel surcharge than under the April card, before any base-fare move.

Internationally, the frozen Europe charge at ₹10,000 is the odd line. IndiGo has raised Africa and Asia and left Europe where it was. The airline did not explain the exception. Long-haul fuel is a larger share of cost on a European sector than on a 700 km domestic hop, so a freeze there is a commercial choice, not a statement that European ATF is stable.

What a Tuesday booking actually pays

The operative clock is 00:01 on 6 October. A fare held in a cart before that minute is not the issue. A new ticket is. Domestic passengers can read the charge off distance: ₹375, ₹600, ₹900, ₹1,150, ₹1,300. International passengers can read it off region, with Europe the only band IndiGo left alone. The 14 percent ATF rise is the reason the airline gave. The second revision since March is the pattern. If the next ATF print goes up again, the card published on Monday is already written as a temporary table.