With global oil prices rising, fuel surcharges on international flights for tickets issued in September will jump sharply.
According to the airline industry on the 18th, the fuel surcharge level for international routes in September will be set at level 21. That is seven levels higher than this month's level 14 and the highest in three months.
The benchmark Singapore jet fuel average rose to 355.46 cents per gallon ($149.29 per barrel) from July 16 to Aug. 15, up $30.23 (25.4%) per barrel from the previous assessment period.
In the case of Korean Air Lines(003490), one-way fuel surcharges by route will rise by up to 94,800 won. For round trips, that is 189,600 won.
For short-haul routes of 500 miles or less in great-circle distance (shortest distance), such as Incheon–Shenyang, Qingdao, and Fukuoka, the one-way fuel surcharge will be raised by 12,800 won (36.4%) from 35,200 won this month to 48,000 won.
For long-haul routes (6,500–9,999 miles) such as Incheon–New York, Dallas, and Boston, the surcharge will rise by 94,800 won (36.6%) from 259,200 won this month to 354,000 won.
For the shortest routes such as Fukuoka, Yanji, Changchun, Yancheng, Yantai, Dalian, Weihai, Qingdao, Miyazaki, and Kumamoto, 52,000 won will be charged.
Fuel surcharges for the longest routes, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Sydney, Frankfurt, Paris, London, Rome, Barcelona, Prague, Milan, and Budapest, are 290,100 won.
Fuel surcharges on international flights are imposed separately on airfares as a system to reflect the expense burden from rising oil prices. The amount varies by airline and flight distance.
International fuel surcharges had climbed to level 33 in May due to the aftermath of the U.S.-Iran war. They then fell to level 27 in June, level 19 in July, and level 14 in August, but have risen again amid instability in the Middle East.