The cost of flying to, from and within India is set to rise sharply after IndiGo—India’s largest carrier—announced a second fuel-surcharge hike in three weeks, effective for tickets booked from 2 April. Surcharges will now range from ₹275 on short domestic hops to ₹10,000 on ultra-long-haul international sectors. Rival airlines are expected to follow. The move comes as underwriters impose dedicated war-risk insurance premia on flights traversing conflict-affected Middle-East airspace.
![War-risk premiums and jet-fuel spike force IndiGo to levy up to ₹10,000 surcharge]()
Meanwhile, travellers can at least remove some uncertainty around paperwork: VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) offers fast, end-to-end support for tourist, business and crew visas, enabling corporate travel teams to offload administration and focus on navigating these rising fare and insurance costs.
Industry sources quoted by ANI said a narrow-body round-trip now attracts about ₹30 lakh in extra cover, while a wide-body crossing the Gulf pays around ₹90 lakh. Add to that a 130 % month-on-month jump in aviation-turbine-fuel (ATF) spot prices, and airlines argue they have little choice but to pass costs on. To cushion passengers, the Ministries of Civil Aviation and Petroleum have limited the domestic ATF price rise to 25 % for April, but that provides only partial relief. Corporate travel managers should expect fare volatility and build contingencies into mobility budgets. On high-volume routes such as Delhi–Dubai or Mumbai–New York, travel-management companies report fare quotes climbing 25-40 % in the last fortnight. Insurers are also revisiting premiums on corporate travel policies that cover medical evacuation and trip cancellation in declared war zones. Risk consultants advise firms to audit coverage and, where permissible, shift assignees to routings that avoid Iran, Iraq or Israeli FIRs, even if journey time increases.
Meanwhile, travellers can at least remove some uncertainty around paperwork: VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) offers fast, end-to-end support for tourist, business and crew visas, enabling corporate travel teams to offload administration and focus on navigating these rising fare and insurance costs.
Industry sources quoted by ANI said a narrow-body round-trip now attracts about ₹30 lakh in extra cover, while a wide-body crossing the Gulf pays around ₹90 lakh. Add to that a 130 % month-on-month jump in aviation-turbine-fuel (ATF) spot prices, and airlines argue they have little choice but to pass costs on. To cushion passengers, the Ministries of Civil Aviation and Petroleum have limited the domestic ATF price rise to 25 % for April, but that provides only partial relief. Corporate travel managers should expect fare volatility and build contingencies into mobility budgets. On high-volume routes such as Delhi–Dubai or Mumbai–New York, travel-management companies report fare quotes climbing 25-40 % in the last fortnight. Insurers are also revisiting premiums on corporate travel policies that cover medical evacuation and trip cancellation in declared war zones. Risk consultants advise firms to audit coverage and, where permissible, shift assignees to routings that avoid Iran, Iraq or Israeli FIRs, even if journey time increases.
