Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa plans to raise fuel surcharges for its passengers to help compensate for continuing high oil prices, the airline said on Friday. On long-haul routes, the surcharge will rise to 37 euros ($44.71) per leg from 27 euros. On routes within Europe, the charge will rise to 9 euros from 7 euros, the carrier said.
The new charges will apply from July 8.
"The record price for oil is continuing to exert pressure on the airline's expenditure front," Lufthansa said in a statement.
The price of US light sweet crude oil reached an all-time high of $60.95 a barrel on Monday, though it eased to below $57 a barrel by the end of the week.
Lufthansa's decision to raise the charges comes a week after UK rivals British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways [VA.UL] announced they would increase their fuel surcharges from June 27 because of further oil price hikes.
BA's surcharge on long-haul tickets sold and issued in Britain rose to 24 pounds ($42.75) for each flight from 16 pounds, while the short-haul surcharge increased to 8 pounds from 6 pounds. Virgin Atlantic Airways, controlled by UK entrepreneur Richard Branson, raised its surcharge by 8 pounds per flight on all tickets sold in the UK.
Larger European competitor Air France KLM said on Tuesday it would make a decision on a possible surcharge increase within the next two weeks.
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