Plane fares set to go down in Feb on cheaper fuel

Passengers can look forward to cheaper plane tickets next month after the government further reduced the fuel surcharge that airlines are allowed to collect.

In an advisory on Tuesday, the Civil Aeronautics Board announced that the fuel surcharge was lowered a notch to Level 6 for February on cheaper jet fuel, the lowest since peaking at Level 12 in August 2022.

Recent price monitoring showed that jet fuel averaged P38.92 per liter, lower than the previous P41.50 per liter.

Under Level 6, passengers of domestic flights will pay fuel surcharge of P185 to P665 each while those flying abroad will be charged an additional P610.37 to P4,538.40. These rates are lower compared to Level 7 rates, which range from P219 to P739 for domestic routes and P722.71 to P5,373.69 for international flights.

Additional fees

Fuel surcharges are additional fees imposed 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.

Next month, passengers flying from Manila to Caticlan, Legaspi, Kalibo and Roxas will pay a fuel surcharge of P292 while those going to Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban and Puerto Princesa will be charged P388.

Applicable fuel surcharge, under Level 6, for flights from Manila to Dumaguete, Tagbilaran, Surigao and Siargao is P513, and to Zamboanga, Cotabato and Davao, P598. Those booking Manila-General Santos and Clark-Davao flights will shell out additional P665.

Passengers flying from the Philippines to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam will pay a fuel surcharge of P610.37 while those visiting China will be charged additional P828.73. Philippine Airlines just restarted its flights to Xiamen and Guangzhou this month.

Airlines will be collecting fuel surcharge amounting to P844.16 from passengers flying from Manila to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia; P949.51, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea, and P2,100.23, Australia and Middle East.

The implementation of lower fuel surcharge comes at a time when airlines are ramping up their flight capacities to take advantage of the resurgence of air travel demand. INQ