PHILIPPINE travelers will exit the lean travel season facing steeper airfares, as fuel surcharges — which airlines collect to offset volatility in jet fuel prices — are set to reach their highest level since May.
In an advisory on Sept. 28, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) announced that a Level 17 fuel surcharge will be implemented from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15, three notches higher than the Level 14 imposed in the second half of September.
That marks the highest level in five months, or since Level 18 was imposed in the first half of May.
Philippine airlines’ fuel surcharges peaked at Level 19 from April 16 to April 30.
At Level 17, airlines may collect between P559 and P1,635 per passenger for domestic flights and between P1,846.10 and P13,726.58 for international flights.
That marks a significant jump from Level 14, when airlines were allowed to collect between P457 and P1,336 for domestic flights and between P1,509.08 and P11,220.71 for international flights.
Fuel surcharges are collected on top of the base fare.
CAB said the latest fuel surcharge will be implemented at a conversion rate of P62.71 to the US dollar.
The renewed volatility in jet fuel prices threatens to temper the fourth-quarter lift that Philippine carriers are looking forward to following the traditionally lean travel season in the third quarter.
The higher surcharge also reflects the sharp increase in global jet fuel prices amid lingering uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway controlled by Iran through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes. (Logan Kal-El M. Zapanta © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
