Skyrocketing fuel prices and dwindling passenger traffic have taken a heavy toll on India?s largest private carrier, Jet Airways. On Tuesday, the airlines announced its biggest quarterly loss in at least three years and its second consecutive quarterly loss.

For the fourth quarter ended March 2008, Jet incurred a loss of Rs 221.18 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 88 crore for the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal as fuel prices touched a record high. Sales for the period increased 37% to Rs 2,727 crore as compared to Rs 1,989 crore.

The premier full service carrier posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 653.87 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2008 while sales stood at Rs 10,921.27 crore. These figures, however, cannot be compared with the previous year, since the full year results also include JetLite (Air Sahara, which Jet acquired in April 2007) for the first time.

The carrier, in a statement, said its spending on fuel (biggest expense), almost doubled in the quarter after the cost of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) skyrocketed and the airline expanded its overseas network. A slowdown in demand in the domestic market was also a driving factor behind the carrier?s losses, the statement said.

The Mumbai-based airline spent Rs 1,080 crore in the last quarter on fuel compared with Rs 551 crore for the same quarter last year, the airline said in a statement.

India?s scheduled aviation companies are expected to double their combined losses to Rs 8,000 crore from Rs 4,000 crore last fiscal, the Praful Patel, minister for civil aviation said earlier this month.

The statement from Jet airways also said that continuing overcapacity and the fact that operating costs in India have always been higher than other comparable countries further exacerbates the low profitability situation in India.

Jet Airways stock price fell 0.3% to Rs 517.8 at the close of trading on the Bombay Stock exchange on Tuesday.

According to the statement from Jet, domestic operations accounted for 58% of operating revenues (Rs 1,600 crore) as compared to 76.3 % (Rs 1,509.4 crore) in the fourth quarter of last year, reflecting the growing contribution of the company?s international operations to total revenues.