Airlines to pay fuel dues in instalments twice a year: Praful Patel

New Delhi, Oct 22 (IANS) Airlines will pay all the outstanding dues on aviation fuel to oil companies in instalments twice a year and will be given a credit limit of 90 days to purchase the current requirement of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), according to a decision reached at a meeting of civil aviation and petroleum ministers here Wednesday.

"Cumulatively the dues of the airlines industry to the oil companies are about Rs.2,500-2,800 crore (Rs.25-28 billion). We have decided that this shall be cleared by the airlines in six-monthly instalments by March 2009," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters after the meeting.

He added that for current uplift of ATF, oil companies will give all airlines a credit limit of 90 days; besides, oil companies will start revising ATF prices every fortnight, replacing the current monthly revision.

Senior executives of various airlines and oil companies were present at the meeting that was held by Patel and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora to discuss payment of dues to oil companies.

Kingfisher Airlines chairman and CEO Vijay Mallya, Jet Airways executive director S.K. Dutta and Air India Chairman Raghu Menon were among those present. So were representatives of state-run oil firms Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum. Finance Ministry officials also attended the meeting.

The meeting was necessitated as some airlines have defaulted on payments for the ATF they have bought at the end of their 60-day credit period.