AirAsia allowed 30% fuel fee hike; other airlines aim to raise charges as well

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has permitted budget airline AirAsia to raise its fuel charge by 30 percent in light of the rising cost of jet fuel. AirAsia filed for the authority to impose the upward adjustment of fuel surcharge on passengers before the CAB on September 13. The low-cost carrier intends to increase the fuel surcharge to P300 per passenger from P230 for all domestic flights. For international flights with a block time (the time from an aircraft's leaving the gate until it arrives at the gate at its destination) of two to less than three hours, the charge will go up to P460 from P400 per passenger. For flights with three hours to less than four hours' block time, the price will go from P600 to P680. For flights with block times of four hours or longer, the surcharge per passenger will go up from P750 to P900. AirAsia is a 60-40 joint venture between Filipino investors Antonio Cojuangco, Michael Romero, and Hontiveros and Malaysia’s AirAsia International Ltd. It started offering daily flights on March 28. Other airlines Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's Dragon Airlines and Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) have also filed petitions with the CAB to impose their own fuel surcharge increases. Based on their petitions, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair intend to impose an 8.7 percent increase in fuel charges, from $124.70 to $135.50, for flights between Hong Kong and the Southwest Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asian subcontinent, including same-day transit to Bangkok and Singapore. Both airlines are also seeking an 11-percent increase in surcharge to $31.20 from the current $28.10 beyond those routes. Cebu Pacific has filed for authority from the CAB to impose fuel charges on all passengers flying to Malaysia ($30 per passenger) and Thailand ($35 per passenger). — BM, GMA News