Fuel surcharge goes down – CAB

Published February 1, 2019, 10:00 PM By Emmie V. Abadilla

https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/02/01/fuel-surcharge-goes-down-cab/

The fuel surcharge on domestic and international fares is going down and may eventually be scrapped if fuel prices plummet.

“The trend is really going down. Right now, we have gone down from level 4 to level 3,” Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla told reporters.

“We make a bi-monthly evaluation and the next advisory is due on February 15. In general, fuel prices are going down, although it’s still erratic and will sometimes spike up.”

However, whether an airline slaps on the fuel surcharge on its fares or not is every airlines’ call. Some will not pass on the fuel price increases on passengers so they can keep their ticket prices low and haul in more customers.

“It’s a competitive decision,” the CAB Executive Director explained. “Maybe an airline would like to have a bigger share of the market. Then that’s their call.”

So far, AirAsia Philippines has not imposed the fuel surcharge on passengers.
“To help reduce travel cost and stimulate more demand for travel and tourism, we will not be adding fuel surcharge on our fares for all domestic and international flights,” according to CEO Captain Dexter Comendador. “We want to keep our fares low to encourage more people to travel.”

Then too, some foreign airlines do not implement the fuel surcharge but are allowed to charge it homebound by their home countries.