Air India fares are set to go up as the airline on Tuesday announced a hike in fuel surcharge amid the conflict in the West Asian region.. Air India said in a statement announcing the hike that the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF). (PTI). The airline has announced a “phased expansion” of fuel surcharge on its domestic and international routes, citing “the steep rise in jet fuel prices arising from the geopolitical situation in the Gulf region.”. Air India said in a statement announcing the hike that the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), which accounts for nearly 40 per cent of an airline’s operating costs, had witnessed a significant escalation since early March 2026. The airline said that this was owing to “supply disruptions.”. The pressure in India is amplified owing to the “high excise duty and VAT” on the aviation turbine fuel in major metro cities including Delhi and Mumbai, Air India stated. It added that this eventually magnifies the cost and places substantial strain on airline operating economics.. The airline said that the new fuel surcharges will be implemented in three phases.. Air India fares are set to go up as the airline on Tuesday announced a hike in fuel surcharge amid the conflict in the West Asian region.. The airline has announced a “phased expansion” of fuel surcharge on its domestic and international routes, citing “the steep rise in jet fuel prices arising from the geopolitical situation in the Gulf region.”. Air India said in a statement announcing the hike that the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), which accounts for nearly 40 per cent of an airline’s operating costs, had witnessed a significant escalation since early March 2026. The airline said that this was owing to “supply disruptions.”. The pressure in India is amplified owing to the “high excise duty and VAT” on the aviation turbine fuel in major metro cities including Delhi and Mumbai, Air India stated. It added that this eventually magnifies the cost and places substantial strain on airline operating economics.. |#+|. The airline expressed regret for the increase in fuel surcharges “in this manner”, but said that it was being done due to “factors outside its control.” “Absent such fuel surcharges, it is likely that some flights would be unable to cover operating cost and would have to be cancelled,” Air India said in the statement.. The airline said that the new fuel surcharges will be implemented in three phases. Under the first phase, fuel surcharge of ₹399 will be applied for bookings for domestic travel as well as SAARC countries. West Asia/ Middle East nations will also be applicable for USD 10 hike. Bookings for these regions earlier did not carry any fuel surchage.. The fuel surcharge for Southeast Asia nations will be increased from USD 40 to USD 60, and for Africa region from USD 60 to USD 90. The first phase will be rolled out from March 12.. Phase 2, which will be effective from March 18, w 

 IndiGo, India’s largest airline, announced on Tuesday that its chief executive officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers has resigned. Neither Elbers, who was contracted up to 2027, nor IndiGo stated a reason for the move that comes three months after the airline faced massive flight disruptions and Elbers faced direct scrutiny too.. IndiGo co-founder and MD Rahul Bhatia will run the show until a new CEO is found. (File Photo). They thanked each other, and Elbers sought a waiver of notice period in his resignation, though it was not immediately clear how long he would stay on for a handover. But his tenure is cut short by about 18 months with the move; he joined IndiGo in September 2022 for a five-year tenure that was to end in 2027.. The mass cancellations in December 2025 apparently due to pilot shortage — triggered by flight duty time limit (FTDL) norms — left tens of thousands of passengers stranded in India.. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) imposed a fine of ₹22.2 crore, and issued notices directly to Elbers. While he initially survived calls for his resignation, the crisis significantly dented the airline’s reputation for punctuality.. For now, according to the press statement released by Indigo, managing director Rahul Bhatia would manage the company until a replacement is hired.. “Rahul returns to assume management of the affairs of the airline to strengthen the Company’s Culture, reinforce Operational Excellence and deepen its commitment to delivering exceptional service, care, reliability and professionalism to its customers,” said the chairman of the board, Vikram Singh Mehta.. Bhatia told employees in internal mail after Elbers quit, that “what happened last Dec(ember) should never have taken place”.. “Our customers didn’t deserve it. nor did all of (you), esp(ecially) frontline employees who bore most of the brunt for no fault,” he said,. He underlined that he had founded “and nurtured IndiGo for twenty-two years”, and expressed “a deep sense of personal commitment and responsibility towards our nation, and towards the airline’s customers, employees, shareholders and all other stakeholders”.. He signed off with the popular Shah Rukh Khan dialogue “Main hoon na” — ‘I am there’. 

 As concerns grow over the availability of LPG amid disruptions in global fuel supply triggered by the ongoing Iran-US conflict, Hindustan Petroleum has said steps are being taken to ensure that cooking gas remains available for households and key public services.. Several hotel associations across India have reported a shortage of commercial LPG cylinders. (Praful Gangurde / HT Photo). In a statement addressing the situation, the company said, “In light of current geopolitical disruptions affecting global fuel supply, steps have been taken to enhance LPG production and prioritise its availability for domestic consumers and essential non-domestic sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions.”. What hotel associations said. Several hotel associations across India have reported a shortage of commercial LPG cylinders, just days after the prices of both commercial and domestic gas cylinders were increased nationwide. Hotel associations in Bengaluru and Chennai flagged disruptions, warning that restaurants in the respective cities may be forced to halt operations on Tuesday, March 10, if the LPG supply was not restored.. The development comes amid a hike in oil prices globally due to the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US which has triggered unrest across the Middle East. The situation has triggered concerns of a further spike in energy prices, given Iran’s targeting of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.. The Chennai Hotels Association and the Bangalore Hotels Association on Monday claimed that commercial LPG supply to restaurants in both cities have taken a massive hit. “Since the gas supply has stopped, the hotels will be closed from tomorrow,” the association in Bengaluru said, as quoted by news agency PTI.. The Chennai hotels body issued a statement seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the matter. “Commercial LPG distributors have completely stopped supplying cylinders, stating that they have no stock available. As a result, many restaurants are forced to shut down,” the body said in a tweet.. What did govt say?. Amid oil price hike concerns and reports of LPG shortage to hotels in India, the government issued a statement on Monday, ordering oil refineries to increase LPG production and use such extra production for domestic use.. “The ministry has prioritised domestic LPG supply to households and introduced 25 day inter- booking period to avoid hoarding/black marketing,” the ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a statement. The ministry also said that a committee has been constituted to review the representations for LPG supply to restaurants.. The prices of LPG cylinders for commercial use was hiked by ₹115 and for domestic use by ₹60 last week. 

 On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stressed that the constitutional right to a speedy trial aims to protect undertrials from prolonged detention while also delivering prompt justice to victims and their families, voicing concern over the extended delays in criminal trials in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The court further noted that the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh could have stepped in sooner. (Photo from HT file). While hearing a case concerning delays in a murder trial, a court bench expressed that it was “extremely disappointed” to learn that as many as 351 sessions trials in the UT have been pending for over five years, involving a total of 585 accused persons. The court was especially disturbed that most of these cases—235 in total—remain stalled at the stage of recording oral evidence from prosecution witnesses, highlighting systemic delays in trial proceedings. The court stressed that the right to a speedy trial, derived from Article 21 of the Constitution, must not be interpreted narrowly as a protection solely for the accused. The primary objective of starting this initiative is to prevent undertrials from remaining in jail indefinitely. The victims deserve swift justice as well. We have often observed that justice must not only be served to the accused. The bench observed that justice must also be served to the victims as well as their families and loved ones. Also Read: Supreme Court orders strict timeline for acid attack trials. 

 On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stressed that the constitutional right to a speedy trial aims to protect undertrials from prolonged detention while also delivering prompt justice to victims and their families, voicing concern over the extended delays in criminal trials in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The court further noted that the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh could have stepped in sooner. (Photo from HT file). While hearing a case concerning delays in a murder trial, a court bench expressed that it was “extremely disappointed” to learn that as many as 351 sessions trials in the UT have been pending for over five years, involving a total of 585 accused persons. The court was especially disturbed that most of these cases—235 in total—remain stalled at the stage of recording oral evidence from prosecution witnesses, highlighting systemic delays in trial proceedings. The court stressed that the right to a speedy trial, derived from Article 21 of the Constitution, must not be interpreted narrowly as a protection solely for the accused. The primary objective of starting this initiative is to prevent undertrials from remaining in jail indefinitely. The victims deserve swift justice as well. We have often observed that justice must not only be served to the accused. The bench observed that justice must also be served to the victims as well as their families and loved ones. Also Read: Supreme Court orders strict timeline for acid attack trials.