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London: British Airways, Europe's third-biggest carrier, increased fuel surcharges by 20 per cent for premium-class passengers.
First- and business-class passengers will pay a 133-pound ($262) surcharge for a long-haul flight exceeding nine hours and economy class flyers will continue to pay 109 pounds, the London-based airline said in a statement distributed to travel agents on June 18. The changes took effect on June 19.
The figures were confirmed on Sunday by spokeswoman Abigail Moore.
“It is now appropriate to spread some of this significant additional cost among those passengers traveling in cabins with fewer seats, using more space and benefiting from larger baggage allowances, as we burn more fuel per passenger to fly them,” Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said in the statement.
British Airways has been increasing surcharges to offset record oil prices. The carrier expects its fuel bill for the current year to rise to 3 billion pounds from 2 billion pounds.
Crude oil futures have traded above $120 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange since early May and rose to an intra-day record of $139.89 a barrel on June 16. They have doubled in the past 12 months.
British Airways continues to monitor the oil price and isn't ruling out further increases in surcharges, Moore said today in an interview from London.
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