Domestic air carriers will raise their air fares by an average of 30 percent for international flights starting next month to reflect surging fuel costs, the airlines announced yesterday.
Bruce Chen (陳鵬宇), a public relations official for China Airlines (CAL), Taiwan’s largest carrier, said that the summer is usually a busy travel season and that because of the cost of rising fuel prices, the airline is planning to hike air fares starting on June 15.
Air fare hikes will peak in July and August, Chen said. EVA Airways Corp spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國偉) said that the fuel price for air carriers has risen from US$84 a barrel last year to US$145 a barrel. Fuel costs used to account for 20 percent of the airline’s operations costs, but the ratio has now risen to 50 percent, Nieh said.
“The air carrier has no option but to adjust its air fares,” Nieh said.
UNI Airways Corp has hiked its air fares since March and will adjust it further next month.
The airlines’ ticket prices are expected to reach a peak late next month or early July.
CAL and UNI have made the biggest fare increeases on their long-haul flight routes, such as to Europe or the US.
Nieh said that although the price hike will average 30 percent, it still will not cover the expenses of fuel costs.
He said that the ticket price hike will surely impact the tourism market, but the carrier “has no other choice.”
He said that EVA lost NT$1.8 billion (US$59.02 million) last year, but that the air carrier has lost up to NT$2.3 billion in the first quarter of this year alone.
“If EVA Airways is suffering serious losses and is forced to cut or suspend certain flight routes, then it will be even more damaging to the passengers,” he added.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS