Government retains fuel surcharges

MANILA, Philippines — The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) is keeping the fuel surcharge steady in October to offset the continued increase in airfares.

In an advisory, CAB announced that the fuel surcharge for October would remain at Level 6 as the agency reviews the matrix with base rates picking up.

Under Level 6, passengers must pay a fuel surcharge of P185 to P665 for local trips and P610.37 and P4,538.4 for international flights.

CAB said that it is reviewing the matrix for passenger and cargo fuel surcharge for both domestic and international flights.

“Pending the review and evaluation of the CAB passenger and cargo fuel surcharge for domestic and international flights pursuant to CAB Resolution 25, in light of the perceived increase in the average fares, vis a vis the increase in operational costs, please be advised that the applicable fuel surcharge rate from Oct. 1 to 31 will remain at Level 6,” CAB said.

In the months leading to September, CAB kept the fuel surcharge at Level 4, allowing airlines to hold airfares at their most affordable this year.

However, CAB was forced to raise the fuel surcharge in September to take into account the surge in petroleum prices worldwide.

Airlines may impose the fuel surcharge in the airfares of their passengers to cut their losses resulting from price changes in jet fuel.

Domestic carriers, particularly Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific, are hoping to reach, if not breach, their pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year.

PAL seeks to fly a total of 14.5 million passengers for 2023, while Cebu Pacific aims to surpass its pre-pandemic high of 22.48 million passengers.

Passenger footprint at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport rose by 78 percent to 22.22 million as of June from 12.49 million a year ago.