British Airways and KLM hike fuel surcharge on air fares as oil prices rocket

Two European carriers, British Airways (BA) and KLM of the Netherlands, said Monday they planned to increase fuel surcharges on air fares after oil prices soared to record high points close to 100 dollars a barrel last week.
BA added that it expected its annual fuel bill to exceed 2.0 billion pounds (2.84 billion euros, 4.13 billion dollars) for the first time during its current financial year which was to end on March 31, 2008.
The airline said the fuel surcharge for one-way long-haul flights of fewer than nine hours would increase to 48 pounds from 38. A return would cost 96 pounds, double the amount for a single fare. The increases apply to flights departing Britain that are booked from Thursday.
"The cost of oil has reached record levels, rising by more than 20 dollars per barrel since we last increased our fuel surcharge in June 2007," BA's commercial director Robert Boyle said in a statement. BA added that the surcharge for one-way longhaul flights lasting more than nine hours would increase to 58 pounds from 43. Again the cost would double for return journeys.
For single-fare shorthaul flights, the surcharge would climb to 10 pounds from eight. British Airways said it would make "similar adjustments" to its fuel surcharges in markets outside Britain.