Rising fuel prices are forcing some airlines to introduce surcharges on new ticket sales.
Regional and international carriers including Loganair, Japan Airlines and AirAsia Malaysia have announced new or increased levies on tickets this week.
Loganair said that despite being able to fix the price for more than 50 per cent of its expected fuel volume for 12 months from 1 April, the rise in oil prices will result in an additional cost of £4.7 million.
Jonathan Hinkles, CEO, said: “It is simply impossible for us to absorb this impact, especially where airlines including Loganair still face significant uncertainty over the pace of recovery in passenger numbers from the pandemic.
“We’ve realistically no option but to introduce a fuel surcharge on new ticket sales, which will apply to new sales from 21 March onwards. Many other international airlines have already taken this step.”
The surcharge of £3.95 for a one-way trip will be included in the headline price on the Loganair website but separated out in the online basket enabling customers to see what the charges are.
The carrier also said it would halve the surcharge if the price of Brent Crude Oil falls below $110 per barrel for six consecutive weeks and remove it if the price falls below $85 per barrel for the same period of time.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Malaysia said it would be reintroducing fuel surcharges for new domestic and international bookings from 8 March 2022.
Riad Asmat, CEO, AirAsia Malaysia, said: “Airlines the world over are affected by the rising oil prices and the continuous upward spiral caused by the situation in Eastern Europe and other external factors have made it imperative for us to reintroduce the fuel surcharge, despite our best efforts to resist it for as long as we could.
He added that the carrier had absorbed fuel price increases in the past but that is “no longer sustainable” because of the 160 per cent surge in oil prices.
Domestic routes will have approximately £1.80 added while international routes will have between £4.60 and £11 added depending on the flying time.
AirAsia said it highlights and collects the surcharge during the payment process for new bookings.
Japan Airlines, which already had fuel surcharges in place, is now seeking approval from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to increase them from 1 April to 31 May.
The carrier sets its fuel charges every two months based on the average price of Singapore kerosene-type jet fuel in that period.
The previous surcharge of 1,500 Yen (£10) applied to flights from Japan to Korea and Far East Russia in February and March would rise to 1,800 Yen (£12(.
The levy per person for flights from Japan to Europe and North America would increase from 17,500 (£114) to 20,200 (£130).
Code share flights with British Airways, Finnair and Iberia will remain at $42 (£30) for a business class ticket and $30 (£23) for an economy class ticket.