One of Asia’s biggest airlines has almost doubled its fuel surcharge for new tickets – meaning a London-Tokyo ticket now carries an extra fee of 56,000 yen (£260) each way.
Japan Airlines (JAL) has raised the surcharge by 93 per cent for new tickets issued for travel from May, “due to fuel market prices reaching levels that far exceed initial expectations.”
Since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and subsequent reprisals began on 28 February, the price of aviation fuel has more than doubled. Supplies to east Asia are at a particular premium because there is such dependence on the Gulf for fuel in the region.
Japan Airlines is telling passengers: “While this will result in an additional burden for our customers, this is an unavoidable measure necessary to ensure the continuity of our air transport operations and maintain our service quality.
“Although this notice comes shortly before implementation, we sincerely ask for your understanding.”
The Tokyo-based carrier said the rise would have been even higher were it not for Japanese government subsidies.
The surge in costs is so extreme that Japan Airlines has had to create unprecedented new “surcharge zones” to accommodate the additional fees.
“Due to the surge in fuel prices surpassing the current maximum level (Zone O), we have added new categories, Zones P through R,” the carrier said.
The fuel surcharge is not especially relevant to passengers buying for cash. Pricing rules mean all such fees must be wrapped into the overall fare. But travellers redeeming frequent flyer points are likely to have to pay much more.
When The Independent priced a London-Tokyo return on JAL for the first two weeks of May, the lowest return fare of £1,332 including an “insurance/fuel” surcharge of only £254.
On the same dates, passengers could instead opt to pay barely half as much by flying on one of the Gulf-based carriers. At present the Foreign Office warns against changing planes in the three key Middle East hubs of Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai. But Etihad, Qatar Airways and Emirates respectively are continuing to fly to and from the UK, with onward connections.
Etihad has a fare of just £696 return – saving 48 per cent on the cheapest JAL ticket bought direct.
Read more: Fuel shortages? I’ve just had a flight cancelled – and I’m still not worried
