08/09/2005

BA increases fuel surcharges

British Airways has announced that it is to increase its fuel surcharges on longhaul flights.

The rise – the fifth since May 2004 – will increase the cost of the fuel charge on a longhaul one-way flight to £30 and £60 for a return trip, from September 12. The additional charges do not apply to tickets already paid for and issued.

Shorthaul charges will remain unchanged at £8 for a one-way flight and £16 for a return trip.

BA said that the increase was “very regrettable” but was necessary due to rising fuel costs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

When BA first introduced fuel surcharges last May, the cost was just £2.50 for both long and short-haul flights. However, the airline says that rising fuel costs have forced them to increase the charges.

The price of oil has now risen to just over $70 a barrel in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. BA said that the their fuel bill was now £1.6 billion, making it the second largest cost for the airline after employee costs.

BA is the second airline to increase fuel surcharges this week. On Tuesday, Virgin Atlantic announced that it was increasing its fuel levy to £30 per flight.

Martin George, British Airways’ commercial director, said: “Our fuel costs remain a real burden. This latest fuel surcharge rise is very regrettable, but we have little choice other than to pass some of our extra costs on to our customers.”

The airline said that it now cost almost 400% more to fill a plane with fuel today than it did in December 2001. Mr George said: “We believe that it is better to be transparent with our customers about the price of fuel by showing the level of fuel surcharge they are paying rather than hide the costs by raising fares behind the scenes like some other airlines choose to.”

BA expects total revenue for the year to March 2006 to improve by 5.5 – 6.5%.

(KMcA/SP)

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