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Elijah Felice Rosales - The Philippine Star
May 22, 2025 | 12:00am
In an advisory, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) ordered airlines to bring down the fuel surcharge to an all-time low Level 3 in June, from Level 4 this month.
AFP / Raul Leob
MANILA, Philippines — As the rainy season nears, Filipinos may still find reason to book flights as air fares will become cheaper in June on record-low fuel surcharge.
In an advisory, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) ordered airlines to bring down the fuel surcharge to an all-time low Level 3 in June, from Level 4 this month.
Under this, airlines can collect a fuel surcharge of P83 to P300 for domestic flights and P273.36 to P2,032.54 for international trips, depending on the distance.
In comparison, Level 4 allows airlines to slap P117 to P342 in fuel surcharge for local flights and P385.7 and P2,867.82 for foreign trips. The reduction in fuel surcharge could propel demand for air travel in June, when bookings usually dip as the rainy season comes in.
Globally, prices of jet fuel have been going down, giving carriers the elbow room to slash costs. Based on the International Air Transport Association’s monitor, jet fuel rates have decreased on a monthly basis by two percent to $83.76 per barrel as of May 16.
As protocol, CAB told airlines applying for the fuel surcharge to submit an application to the agency before June.
Further, CAB set an exchange rate of P56.42 to $1 for airlines transacting in foreign currencies.
Overall, the largest Philippine carriers are seeing an upswing in passenger volume based on their first quarter numbers, with low-cost airline Cebu Pacific leading the way.
Cebu Pacific’s passenger traffic increased by more than a fourth to 6.95 million between January and March, improving load factor to 84.9 percent. Flag carrier Philippine Airlines also raised its passengers flown by five percent to 4.1 million.
Budget carrier AirAsia Philippines expects to fly nearly three million passengers in the first half, recording a load factor of 85 percent. The airline is drawing more travelers to Puerto Princesa on the domestic end and to Taipei on the international front.
To sustain the demand boom, AirAsia Philippines upgraded its flights to Kota Kinabalu to a daily frequency, from three times weekly, and it is boosting Taipei trips to 17 times a week by July.
Airlines are permitted by CAB to collect fuel surcharge from their passengers to recoup some of the costs incurred from fluctuations in the global market.
