The fuel surcharge on all Air Malta scheduled routes will increase by €5 per sector with the exception of flights to Catania, Palermo, Reggio and Tunis which will see an increase of €2, whereas the surcharge on flights to Rome, Milan, Bologna, Venice, Naples and Tripoli will increase by €3,” the airline said.
Air Malta’s fuel surcharge will therefore be between €11 per sector for the shortest routes to €25 per sector for its longer routes.
The airline explained that up to last year, its fuel bill almost doubled over the past three years: an increase of €30 million in spite of fuel hedging agreements which the airline had successfully managed to conclude in the past.
“With the latest surge in Jet Fuel costs in recent months, the airline will incur a further €32 million increase in its fuel costs”.
At a meeting in Istanbul this week, IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani warned that if the price of oil falls and stays at $107 per barrel, airlines would lose €1.5 billion whilst if it maintains a level of $135 per barrel, which it hit in May, losses worldwide would be of €3.6 billion.
“Air Malta’s current fuel surcharge was last revised in November 2007 when crude oil prices were around $80 per barrel and this new additional rate will hardly cover 15% of the increase in annual fuel costs expected for this year,” the airline said.
“The airline is committed to meet the gap through further cost reductions and efficiencies while at the same time seek further opportunities for revenue growth.
“With the continued increases in Jet Fuel, at a time when crude oil price is poised to breach the $140 per barrel, we were faced with the need to continue stabilising our operational budgets to ensure the survival of the company and to get the operation into sustainable viability. We had to take this corrective measure to realign our costs with the airline’s budgets. Most of our competitors have already taken similar measures and we expect others to follow soon,” CEO Joe Cappello said.
|
Destination |
Tickets issued On/before 30th June 08 |
Tickets issued on/after 01st July 08 |
|
Catania/Palermo/Tunis/Reggio |
EUR 9 |
EUR 11 |
|
Rome/Milan/Bologna/Venice/Naples |
EUR 17 |
EUR 20 |
|
Tripoli |
EUR 18 |
EUR 21 |
|
All others |
EUR 20 |
EUR 25 |