Fuel surcharges are an extra charge added to the ticket price of air flights, to cover the cost of fuel rates. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs applies different rates in four categories by flight length.
Currently, the ministry said the fuel surcharge on one-way flights to Europe and the U.S., which is 4.4 times the rate for Japan routes, is $32. But it is not balanced according to flight length since the distance to Europe or the U.S. is five or six times that to Japan.
In addition, local carriers can raise or cut rates, set by the government, for international routes bimonthly to keep pace with the average price of jet fuel in the previous two months in the Singaporean spot market.
For example, if the average price tops $1.50 a gallon during the April-May period, airlines can increase fuel surcharges on their overseas flights for July and August after a month.
In efforts to make the system more relevant to petrol prices, the ministry is planning to allow the rates to change on a monthly basis instead and add two or three more categories for flights.
“If the system is implemented, the beneficiaries will be mid-income class customers and ordinary people who tend to use Japan and China routes more frequently,” said an official in the aviation industry.
