War in Ukraine and the impact in oil prices has caught with the price of services, especially on air travel, soaring Brent Crude Oil hitting over US$120 per barrel has gotten airlines to revise their ticket prices, and it’s no different with Malaysian aviation companies.
AirAsia Malaysia has said that it will be reintroducing fuel surcharges beginning 8 March 2022 for all its domestic and international flights, as it fights off escalating jet fuel prices.
The fuel surcharge system was abolished in 2015 by AirAsia and has since been absorbing the oil price increase over the years, it added that other carriers were already adjusting fares and increasing fuel and admin charges to counter rising operating costs as early as 2018.
AirAsia says the fuel surcharges will be applicable for new flight bookings made on and after 8 March 2022, however bookings made prior will not be affected.
Commenting on the return of fuel surcharge, CEO Riad Asmat said: “Airlines the worldover are affected by the rising oil prices and the continuous upward spiral caused by the situation in Eastern Europe and other external factors have made it imperative for us to reintroduce the fuel surcharge, despite our best efforts to resist it for as long as we could.
“Since we last abolished fuel surcharges in 2015 when the global fuel price was as low as US$48 a barrel, we have faced numerous occasions when the fluctuations have caused other airlines to start imposing surcharges.
The airlines hope the measure will be temporary and continue to ensure fares remain as low as possible despite the fuel surcharge.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and at the same time capitalise on technological and digital innovations as ways to keep costs at bay and make air travel affordable for everyone,”he added.
AirAsia has twice removed its fuel surcharge in the past due to escalating jet fuel prices. It first introduced fuel surcharge in 2005 and abolished it in 2008, and later reintroduced it in 2011. In 2015 the jet fuel price was at its high of US$78 per barrel but AirAsia decided to immediately remove the fuel surcharge as soon as the price went down to around US$48 per barrel that year.
