Airlines seek higher fuel surcharge for one-way passengers

MANILA, Philippines - Domestic and foreign airlines have sought government approval to impose additional fuel charges on their passengers for every one-way trip. If approved, Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be charging anywhere between $4 to $15 for each passenger flying one way to China, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, USA, and Canada. In its fare hike application, PAL intends to hike China surcharges to $58 from $54. Similarly, it seeks to increase fuel fees to $74 from $59 in Indonesia, $54 from $34 in Korea, $34 from $29 in Singapore, $40 from $35 in Hong Kong, $40 from $35 in Macau, and $129 from $119 in USA and Canada. For its part, budget carrier SEAIR also asked the Civil Aeronautics Board’s permission to hike fuel surcharge by P200 within Luzon, Mindanao, Luzon to Visayas flights, and P150 for Visayas to Mindanao routes. Other foreign airlines with similar pending applications are Northwest that intends to hike fees to $70 from $40 on the Philippines-Japan route. Thai Airways also wants to hike fuel fees to $105 from $45 on its Manila-Bangkok route; Malaysia Airlines Berhad, from $34.70 to $56 for Philippines to Malaysia; and Singapore Airlines, from $30 to $35 from Singapore to any ASEAN-member countries. The fuel surcharge, imposed on top of regular fares, is a temporary relief given by regulators to allow airlines to reduce losses from the spiraling jet fuel prices. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said jet fuel surged to more than $150 per barrel. Besides account for a third of an airline’s operating cost per passenger, fuel is also the second-highest expense next to labor. Earlier, the government approved PAL’s petition to raise fuel surcharge for its domestic operations. Fuel fees for PAL’s Luzon-Visayas flights is now at P1,030. Surcharges for the the Luzon-Mindanao, Visayas-Mindanao, and within Luzon flights rose to P1,180, P900, and P780 to P1,380, P1,100, and P880, respectively. - GMANews.TV