Airphil seeks hike in fuel surcharge

MANILA, Philippines - Air Philippines Corp., the operator of AirPhil Express, is seeking to hike the fuel surcharge of its local flights amid rising fuel costs.

Alfredo Herrera, senior vice president for marketing and sales of Airphil Express, said yesterday that the firm has asked the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to raise the fuel surcharge of its domestic flights.

“We did [file a petition to hike fuel surcharge] following competition,” he said in a text message.

He said that carriers have all been under pressure to adjust fuel surcharges amid rising fuel prices.

Fuel surcharges are part of airline ticket prices which allow the carrier to recover the cost of fuel.

Jet fuel prices account for the bulk of the airlines’ operating costs.

Herrera said Airphil is looking at an adjustment of P50 to P100 in fuel surcharges depending on the origin and destination.

He said that if the petition is approved, the fuel surcharge of flights from Clark and Manila to destinations in Luzon will increase to P300 from a previous fee of P250.

The fuel surcharge for flights from Luzon to Visayas, he said will rise to P400 from a previous fee of P300.

Airphil is also looking to apply a higher fuel surcharge of P500 from a previous fee of P400 for flights from Luzon to Mindanao.

For flights within Visayas and within the Mindanao region, Airphil intends to raise the fuel surcharge to P300 from P250.

Cebu Air, the operator of the budget airline Cebu Pacific, earlier filed a petition for an adjustment in fuel surcharges of local flights on the back of rising jet fuel prices.

The International Air Transport Association’s price monitor showed that jet fuel price has reached $139.5 per barrel as of March 9, 5.4 percent higher than a year ago and up 4.3 percent from last month.