Lawmaker and lawyer Rufus Rodriguez chided the Civil Aeronautics Board for imposing a higher aviation fuel surcharge, slated to go into effect next month, that would likely result in higher airfares.
Considering that airline firms have already imposed “unreasonably very high prices for their plane fares,” Rodriguez wanted the CAB to defer implementing the planned increase.
The CAB’s move, according to Rodriguez, indicates a prioritization of airline firms over the welfare of the millions of travelers.
Thus, he proposed it should cease the imposition of a higher aviation fuel surcharge to maintain plane fares low.
Public first
“The CAB is quick in giving more to airlines at the expense of the Filipino riding public,” the Cagayan de Oro solon said.
“It has been remiss in penalizing airlines for flight cancellations, overbooking resulting in bumping off of passengers, delays, inordinate baggage policies, and failure of customer service availability,” he added.
The CAB, in an advisory dated 16 August, announced that passenger and cargo fuel surcharges for domestic and international flights would increase to Level 6 in September owing to higher fuel prices.
Substantial surcharge hike
Depending on the distance, the CAB said the increased surcharge would range from P185 to P665 per ticket for domestic flights and from P610.37 to P4,538.40 for international travel.
In the current Level 4, passengers are charged P117 to P342 for domestic flights and P385.70 to P2,867.82 for international flights, varying based on the flight distance.
While the CAB said that the collection of the higher charge would be optional on the part of airlines, Rodriguez appealed to Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Air Asia, and other carriers to forego the collection of the increased surcharge given that the travel and tourism industry starts to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Higher plane fares will dampen both domestic and international travel. I appeal to the carriers to defer the higher surcharge to encourage more tourists,” he said.