All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines raised their fuel surcharges on Wednesday, pushing fees above $400 on certain long-haul routes.
The higher charges apply to tickets bought in July and August, despite a recent decline in jet-fuel prices across Asia. The reason is timing: Japan’s two biggest carriers set their surcharges using average fuel costs from earlier months, rather than current market rates.
According to LSEG data, jet fuel stood at $113 a barrel on Wednesday, down sharply from a late-March record of $242 a barrel. However, the surcharges taking effect this week are tied to April and May prices, which averaged $178.21 a barrel, JAL said in a press release.
JAL noted that the increases might have been even steeper without government support aimed at easing the burden of surging energy costs linked to the Iran war.
On some routes, fuel levies have tripled since the start of the Iran war. ANA’s website shows that surcharges for flights to Japan from Hawaii, India and Indonesia rose from $94 in April to $310 in July. JAL’s fees are broadly in line with those levels.
The highest new surcharge is 65,000 yen, applied to flights from North America, excluding Hawaii, as well as Europe, the Middle East and Oceania. That is roughly $400, after the yen fell to a 40-year low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday.
Both ANA and Japan Airlines adjust fuel surcharges every two months. As a result, the fees are expected to decline for tickets purchased in September and October, when calculations will reflect the lower average jet-fuel prices recorded in June and July.
Any relief would come as travelers face other higher costs introduced on July 1. Japan’s departure tax rose from 1,000 yen to 3,000 yen, or about $18, while visa fees increased from 3,000 yen to 15,000 yen, roughly $92 per person, marking their first rise since 1978.
— CNBC’s Matthew Tan and Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.
