Air fares to fall further in May

MANILA, Philippines — The government has ordered airlines to slash the fuel surcharge they will pass on to travelers in May, paving the way for a second consecutive month of reduction in ticket prices.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) yesterday issued an advisory ordering airlines to bring down the fuel surcharge to Level 5 in May from Level 6 in April.

This marks the second straight month that CAB trimmed the fuel surcharge airlines can pass on to their passengers after the agency toned it down to Level 6 in April, from Level 7 in March.

Under Level 5, airlines can slap a fuel surcharge of P151 to P542 for domestic flights depending on the distance. On the other hand, they can slap a fuel surcharge of P498.03 to P3,703.11 for international flights.

Based on computation, CAB said the fuel surcharge to be collected in May must be applied with the conversion rate of $1 to P54.65. As a protocol, airlines are mandated to file their applications with CAB if they wish to impose the fuel surcharge.

Airlines, for their part, are keeping demand for air travel afloat by offering seat sales prior to the scheduled decline in fuel surcharge.

Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific yesterday launched a three-day sale until April 19 where guests can book domestic and international trips for a base fare of P1, with the travel period set from Aug. 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.

Cebu Pacific flies to a total of 35 Philippine and 25 foreign destinations with a network spanning across Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Similarly, budget carrier AirAsia Philippines offers a seat sale until April 23 for domestic travel. AirAsia Philippines spokesman Steve Dailisan said the promo sells local flights for a base fare of P88 and the trips can be taken anytime until Oct. 31, 2023.

For this summer, Dailisan said AirAsia Philippines saw a demand increase for flights to Caticlan, Bohol, Puerto Princesa, Cebu and Tacloban. The Philippine unit of the Malaysian airline expects this trend to spill over to May with the airfares projected to go down.

On the other hand, flag carrier Philippine Airlines reminded its passengers that its direct flights to the US and Guam, Toronto, Vancouver, Doha, Dubai, Riyadh, Dammam, Bali, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh and Singapore are now situated in Terminal 1 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

With this, PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna asked guests with connecting flights to keep in mind the minimum connecting time of at least two hours to transfer from one terminal to another.