PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) is implementing a fuel surcharge effective March 21, 2022, given the rise of fuel prices and other commodities brought about by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“The effectivity is until further notice, we still have to assess the situation. There are times we remove the fuel surcharge, there are times we really have to add,” Phoebe Ardon, account executive of PAL, told SunStar Davao on Monday, March 21.
Ardon said the fuel surcharge is implemented per one-way flight and varies per route. For flights bound for Manila and Cebu, there is a P270 and P150 surcharge, respectively.
The amount of PAL’s base fare remains low, however, the fuel surcharge increases the net fare, meaning passengers will pay higher for the final prices for their plane tickets.
“It would be reflected on the taxes and fees the passengers would be paying... they will see on the final net fare, it will really go high kasi patong-patong na ang mga surcharges,” Ardon said.
The PAL officer added that the surcharges have been implemented before in the early months of 2022, but given the current trend of crude oil prices and other products, it is unavoidable to implement another fuel surcharge.
“Actually, shocking na itong tuloy-tuloy from February to March kasi usually once or twice lang per year, ngayon magkasundo na months na,” she said.
(This is shocking because the surcharge is continuing from February to March unlike before when we implemented it only once or twice a year, now it’s succeeding months.)
Despite the current situation, Ardon said many people are still buying plane tickets and filling up flights en route to different destinations, mostly domestic.
“Passengers are very lax right now, halos puno ang flights (flights are full) even though we would add more flights. If we check three days before the flight, halos puno na (it’s almost full) or full fare na around P11,000 one-way,” Ardon said, attributing the passenger traffic to the least restrictive Alert Level 1 implemented in Davao City, Manila, and other areas.
Ardon said not many passengers are availing of international flights because restrictions are still in place. She added most domestic flight passengers are flying for leisure, and only a few are for business or returning residents.
“Unlike 2020 and 2021 walang umaalis, walang movement talaga (no one is going out, there was no movement). Ngayon we felt it’s really summer because everyone is going out even if the fare is high,” she said.