MAS to raise fuel surcharge

malaysianinsider - National carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS), engaged in a fare war with budget airline Air Asia, is looking to raise its fuel surcharge in two weeks on a route-by-route basis, chief executive Datuk Idris Jala said today.

"Over the past year, we have increased our fuel surcharge five times in the light of the ever increasing fuel prices," he told Bernama after the launch of MAS's Second Quality Assurance Conference and Business Assurance and Control Assessment (BACA) initiative.

Idris said the entire airline industry was going through a crisis as result of rising fuel prices. "If the oil prices stay at the current levels, a lot of airline companies could go bankrupt."

MAS currrently charges between US$12 (RM39.24) to US$109 (RM356.43) in fuel surcharges for domestic and international destinations.

International jet fuel prices have been rising in tandem with global crude oil rates, touching US$168.1/barrel up 92.7 percent from a year ago, reported energy information provider Platts. Crude oil touched US$139/barrel this week.

Malaysia cut subsidies and raised pump prices for petrol and diesel last week as soaring global crude oil prices were eating into the government's development budget allocations. However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has ruled out further price jumps.... selanjutnya.