Many foreign Airlines active in Vietnam are increasing surcharges to cope with rising oil prices before the start of the high season for travel from Vietnam.
Thai Airways International said in a statement that fuel surcharge would rise by at least US$35 for its flights from Thailand's Bangkok to Vietnam and elsewhere from June 25.
"The crisis of fuel price in the global market is heavily affecting our operating costs," Karun Sirarojanakul, general manager of Thai Airways International in Vietnam, explained in the statement. He said the new surcharges would apply to all the tickets.
The fuel surcharge is up US$70 for the two-way trip between Bangkok and Vietnam's Hanoi and HCMC. This additional sum will send tax and surcharges of are turn journey with the carrier on these routes to around US$166.
Thai Airways International is the biggest foreign airline active in Vietnam in terms of flight frequency as it operates 32 flights to Vietnam a week.
Other air carriers have also followed suit.
Malaysia Airlines said it is about to apply new tax and surcharges of US$158 instead of the current US$132 for a two-way trip between Kuala Lumpur and Vietnam's HCMC and Hanoi after June 27.
Malaysia Airlines has raised fuel surcharges several times over the past year while looking at other cost-cutting measures in a time when world oil prices have reached new levels.
Earlier this month, Malaysia Airlines offered zero fares for passengers to book for their travel with in the ASEAN region in order to fill up 30% of its seats which are often empty.
"This provides us with the ability to recover some of the fuel costs which would otherwise be lost as the seats are perishable," Idris Jala, managing director and chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines, explained in a press release sent to the Daily.
United Airlines has raised fuel surcharges as the price of fuel had risen, Joe Mannix, general manager of the American carrier in Vietnam, told the Daily on Tuesday from Bangkok as he has been assigned to manage the Thai market on an interim basis over the last four months.
"Currently United's fuel surcharge to the west coast cities of the U.S. as an example is US$125 each way. As a point of perspective, this amount is not the highest of the carriers operating to the U.S. from Vietnam," Mannix said.
The higher fuel prices have also dealt a heavy blow to low-cost carriers, whose biggest challenge is how to keep their fares attractive to passengers when fuel cost has accounted for up to 60% of then overall operating costs.
"Soaring oil prices are affecting all airlines and every route, and we are the same as our operating costs have gone up in the last six months," said Con Korfiatis, chief executive officer of Viva Macau.
He told the Daily that the carrier had raised surcharges by US$5 to US$30 for the Macau-HCMC flight to cope with increasing operating costs.
(Source: SGT)
Tag: Airlines , Flight , Flights To Vietnam , Hanoi , Hcm , International , Malaysia , Travel , Vietnam Airlines raise fuel surcharges - Thai Airways
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