Taiwan's major airlines are to keep fuel surcharges on international passenger flights unchanged this month, maintaining rates of US$45 for short-haul routes and US$117 for long-haul routes.
EVA Airways and Starlux Airlines said in notices issued yesterday that surcharges implemented on April 7 for flights departing from Taiwan would remain in effect.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
China Airlines, Taiwan's largest carrier, also said it would keep surcharge levels unchanged this month in accordance with the Civil Aviation Administration's (CAA) pricing mechanism, although it said it would continue to monitor global crude oil price trends.
Under the current scheme, passengers departing from Taiwan on short-haul routes, including flights to Hong Kong, would continue to pay a fuel surcharge of US$45 per flight segment, while travelers on long-haul routes would pay US$117 per segment.
The decision to freeze the surcharges came despite what the airlines say is a significant gap between market fuel prices and the industry's baseline.
Data from state-run refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan showed that average aviation fuel prices reached US$208.78 per barrel this month, far exceeding the US$40 benchmark on which fuel surcharges are based.
As a result, carriers said they are absorbing a substantial portion of the higher fuel costs.
EVA Air estimated its additional fuel cost per passenger at US$797.82 on long-haul routes and US$133.50 on short-haul routes.
After deducting the approved surcharges, the airline said it would absorb about 85 percent of the additional fuel cost on long-haul services and 66 percent on short-haul flights, up slightly from 65 percent for short-haul routes last month.
Starlux Airlines estimated its additional fuel cost per passenger at US$271.14 on long-haul routes and US$61.58 on short-haul routes.
After deducting the surcharges, the carrier said it would absorb about 66 percent and 43 percent of the added fuel costs respectively, both slightly higher than the 64 percent and 42 percent recorded last month.
The current surcharge levels were initially set following a CAA announcement on April 1, which saw rates jump from US$27.50 to US$45 for short-haul flights and from US$71.50 to US$117 for long-haul flights, effective from April 7.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan has activated backup communications for its northernmost territory, the remote and strategically located island of Dongyin (東引), after poor weather conditions apparently shifted the wreckage of a ship onto an undersea cable causing it to break. The vulnerability of undersea communication cables linking Taiwan with its outlying islands has been a persistent cause of concern for Taipei, whose government has on several occasions blamed Chinese ships for intentionally causing damage. Dongyin, home to about 1,500 people, sits in a strategic position at the top of the Taiwan Strait and the island has a heavy military presence. It does not have an
RSS