Prices for domestic flight tickets should drop soon as the price of aviation fuel price has dropped below the threshold for calculating the aviation fuel surcharge, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday.
The agency said it is reviewing airfare adjustment plans submitted by the nation’s three domestic carriers, adding that once approved, the new fares would take effect at the end of this month.
This would be the first price drop in domestic airfares in four years, the agency said.
A floating formula has been used since 2014 to calculate the price-cap for tickets in order to tie airfare to the price of oil on the international market.
Airlines can set the prices for different routes as they see fit, as long as the prices do not exceed the cap, the agency said.
To adjust cap, the CAA reviews the average aviation fuel price for three consecutive months based on data provided by CPC Corp, Taiwan. It sets three airfare adjustment thresholds: NT$21.74 per liter, NT$16.23 per liter and NT$10.72 per liter.
CPC Corp data showed that the average aviation fuel price between April and this month was NT$9.01 per liter, lower than the CAA’s lowest threshold.
The last time that airlines were asked to reduce their airfares was in October 2015, when the average aviation fuel price dropped below NT$16.23 per liter.
The adjustments proposed by the three carriers varies from 3 to 8 percent, the CAA said.
The largest decrease was seen in the price for Mandarin Airlines flights between Taipei and Kinmen offered by, down from NT$2,276 to NT$2,093, it said.
Travel agencies welcomed drop in airfares, especially as they would take effect as the Ministry of Transportation and Communications promotes the second phase of “disease-prevention tours” that start on July 1.
Domestic travelers would receive government subsidies and might be allowed to use the “Triplicate Stimulus Coupons” to help pay for the travel, agencies said.
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