Airfares to go up by August

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos would have to pay more for their plane tickets in August, as the government raised the fuel surcharge level by a notch to reflect movements in global prices.

In an advisory, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) informed airlines that they can hike their fuel surcharge to Level 6 in August, from Level 5 this July to keep up with the price hikes abroad.

Based on trackers of the International Air Transport Association, jet fuel prices have gone up by three percent to $103.5 per barrel as of July 12 on a monthly comparison.

Under CAB’s matrix, Level 6 imposes a fuel surcharge of P185 to P665 on domestic flights and P610.37 to P4,538.4 on foreign trips.

In comparison, Level 5 adds a fuel surcharge of P151 to P542 for local routes and P498.03 to P3,703.11 for international destinations.

CAB ordered airlines planning to collect the fuel surcharge to apply to the agency before August. CAB also set an exchange rate of P58.7 to $1 for carriers transacting in foreign currency.

Air travel demand is projected to go down in August compared to July, as schools are scheduled to reopen.