Fuel surcharge in December unchanged

The fuel surcharge reflected in plane ticket prices will be kept at the same level in December, when air travel is expected to surge with the holiday season.

In an advisory issued on Friday, the Civil Aeronautics Board said the fuel surcharges that local carriers were allowed to collect would stay at Level 8 next month.

At Level 8, passengers will pay next month a fuel surcharge of P361 for flights from Manila to Caticlan, Kalibo and Roxas while P503 will be collected for those flying to Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu and Puerto Princesa. Fuel surcharge for flights from Manila to Zamboanga, Cotabato and Davao amounts to P708.

Flights from the Philippines to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam will have a fuel surcharge of P835.05 per passenger. Passengers flying to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Guam will pay an additional P1,154.89, while those going to North America and the United Kingdom, P5,913.31.

Fuel surcharges are additional fees  charged by airlines to help them recover fuel costs. These are separate from the base fare, which is the actual amount paid by the passenger for his or her seat.

Local airlines, including budget carrier Cebu Pacific, have been ramping up flight capacities in the last quarter to take advantage of the holiday spending.

The Gokongwei-led airline is set to increase flights from Cebu to Iloilo, Dumaguete, Legazpi, Surigao, Pagadian and Tacloban. It also added more flights to Brunei, Jakarta, Seoul, Taipei and Hong Kong.

“We know that many are raring to travel again to their favorite local and foreign destinations, so we are very excited to mount these additional flights as we approach the holiday season,” Xander Lao, chief commercial officer of Cebu Pacific, said earlier.

Philippine Airlines said recently that an increase in passenger number was anticipated by mid-October up to January, highlighting the need to expand its flight capacities to address the resurgence of both business and leisure travels.

It is set to provide more flights to several domestic destinations, including Puerto Princesa, Cebu, Iloilo, Caticlan and Tacloban.