Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, which hold 95 per cent of India’s aviation market, have told the government that the airline industry is on the verge of “stopping operations”, Al Jazeera reports citing the Press Trust of India.

The Middle East war and the near-complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz have ramped up oil prices in India, the world’s fifth-largest aviation market. Alongside that, airspace restrictions have increased airlines’ operating costs, particularly on long-haul routes. 

The airlines sought a revision to aviation turbine fuel pricing, which accounts for around 40pc of a carrier’s operational expenses.

At the same time, the Federation of Indian Airlines has asked the civil aviation ministry to extend a fuel pricing mechanism to both domestic and international operations.