The cost of air travel is to increase with carriers slapping a surcharge on tickets in an attempt to counter the impact of a huge rise in fuel prices.
The aviation sector has seen the price of its fuel rise as a consequence of global crude hitting US$40 a barrel -- its highest level in 13 years. Soaring oil prices have also dragged up gas prices by 44 percent over 12 months.
Oil experts are divided on the direction of crude prices, with some warning they could go as high as US$50. But the oil and gas group BG insists even the current level is unsustainable, although it believes gas prices will continue rising.
British Airways, which is putting a ?5 (US$8.80) tariff on return tickets, blamed its fare increase on "fluctuations" in the price of oil but insisted it would review the surcharge regularly and adjust it when possible.
Geoff Dixon, the chief executive of Qantas, which is adding A$16 (US$11), said its tariff would be added from next Monday to mitigate the extra costs associated with a 60 percent increase in aviation fuel over 12 months.
"Fuel represented about 15 percent of Qantas costs last year, the second largest cost to the group after salaries and wages," Dixon said.
Qantas, 19 percent owned by BA, last introduced a surcharge in 2000 for similar reasons, while Lufthansa of Germany has just introduced an extra charge and Scandinavian airline SAS is considering a similar move.
National carrier Air New Zealand said yesterday it would impose a surcharge on all airfares sold from May 17 to cover surging aviation fuel prices and the fall in the New Zealand dollar. Cargo rates will also have a fuel surcharge added to them.
Against this trend, the chief executive of low cost carrier EasyJet, Ray Webster, said his company would definitely not be following suit and promised that fares would remain low.
"The decision to raise fares will be disastrously counterproductive for British Airways. Rather than taking steps to plug the hole in their cost base, higher fares will result in fewer people travelling, lower load factors and less revenue," he argued.
The airlines are already struggling against increased competition and reduced demand.
US oil prices struck new 13-year highs above US$40 a barrel yesterday as the market remained concerned over tight supplies, despite a call by the world's biggest exporter for OPEC to raise output next month, Reuters reported.
US light crude climbed to a peak at US$40.38 a barrel, less than US$1 off the all-time high for New York crude futures at US$41.15, reached in October 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique