Fuel charges to rise for air, rail trips
airlines, including Thai Airways International, are increasing fuel surcharges for flights out of Bangkok starting tomorrow.
Etihad Airways will increase its fuel surcharge to US$30 (Bt1,146) for flights to the Middle East and South Africa, effective for tickets issued from tomorrow. The surcharge on roundtrips will be $60. The surcharge for one-way travel to Europe and Canada will jump to $65, while that for roundtrips will rise to $130. Vasing Kittikul, THAI's executive vice president for commercial affairs, said the national carrier would impose new fuel surcharges for both domestic and international flights from tomorrow. The domestic surcharge will rise from Bt300 to Bt400 per flight. On routes to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Rome, Milan, Athens, Moscow, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Zurich, Madrid, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Auckland, the surcharge will go up from $50 to $65 per flight. But the extra charge for Singapore services will fall from Bt1,000 to Bt600 per flight coupon, and for flights to Kuala Lumpur and Penang it will be reduced from Bt1,000 to Bt560 per flight. Asiana Airlines will increase its fuel surcharge to $35 per flight sector, a jump of $10. Earlier, Singapore Airlines increased its fuel surcharge on tickets issued after May 15, saying escalating jet fuel costs forced it to adjust fuel surcharges on both short- and long-haul services. On flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Bandar Seri Begawan, Bangkok, Denpasar, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Manila and Penang , the new rate is $20, a $5 increase per sector. Its long-haul flights will get a fuel surcharge of $60, an increase of $10. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has also increased its fuel surcharge by Bt20 on normal, express and rapid trains between Bangkok and the provinces, but they remain unchanged on suburban trains. The Bt20 increase brings the fuel surcharge to Bt100 for air-conditioned first class berths, Bt70 for air-conditioned second class and Bt50 for third class. The SRT said the country's train system consumes 1.2 billion litres of fuel per year. The previous surcharge was based on a standard oil price of Bt18.19 per litre. Since then the price of fuel has jumped to Bt25.49, forcing the SRT to increase its fuel surcharge to protect it from losses. The SRT operates 254 services per day.
Suchat Sritama The Nation
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