Travelers arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City on January 4, 2023. Airline passengers affected by technical trouble on January 1 are still adjusting to rescheduled flights. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
CAB not expecting fuel surcharge adjustment to affect air travelers
MANILA — The fuel surcharge in airlines is expected to only increase by "less than P50" next month, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said on Thursday.
The CAB earlier announced that the fuel surcharge will be at level 7 from level 6 starting next month, based on its advisory. This means domestic passengers will pay a fuel surcharge of P219 to P739, while this ranges from P722.71 to P5,373.69 for international passengers.
But CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said the "small" increase is not seen to affect the travel behavior of passengers
"Hindi natin inaasahan that this will be a disincentive to travel kasi sa ngayon, ang surcharge ay 400 plus. Magiging plus 50 or less. Hindi siya gaano kalaki, bukod doon ay nagse-surge ang ating air traffic, parami nang parami," Arcilla said in a televised briefing.
(We are not expecting this to disincentivize travelers because for now, our surcharge is around P400 plus then we will increase by P50 or less. It is not that big. Besides, our air traffic is also becoming busy.)
"Gusto kong iparating sa ating mga mananakay, huwag silang mag-alala, maliit lang naman ito at isang level lang," he added.
(I want to tell our passengers that they should not worry about this. It is just an increase of one level.)
Domestic flights are also picking up, he said, as recent figures almost reached pre-pandemic levels. This is expected to continue to increase before December, he said.
CAB also expects more travelers to book flights as travel restrictions continue to ease.
"Inaasahan natin na maraming magbu-book nga dahil peak season at saka very competitive ang local market natin with three major airlines competing in the market, so mabuti po iyan dahil bumababa at nagkakaroon ng more value for money kapag mayroon competition," he said.
(We are expecting more travelers to book flights because it is already peak season and the local market is very competitive with 3 major airlines currently active. That is good because that means more value for money.)
The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) in late December noted that the passenger volume at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) reached 1.6 million between Dec. 1 and 15.