Airfares to soar in April as fuel surcharges more than double

Airfares are set to surge in April, after the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) raised the passenger fuel surcharge to Level 8 for the first half of April, the highest level in two years.

In an advisory on Tuesday, the CAB said it will implement a Level 8 fuel surcharge for flight tickets booked from April 1 to 15, up from Level 4 this month.

This is the highest level imposed by the CAB since the Level 6 in August 2024. However, the peak surcharge was recorded at Level 12 in August 2022.

At Level 8, airlines are allowed to impose a fuel surcharge ranging from PHP 253 to PHP 787 for domestic flights, significantly higher than the PHP 117 to PHP 342 fuel surcharge under the current Level 4.

For international flights from the Philippines, the Level 8 fuel surcharge may range from PHP 835.05 to PHP 6,208.98, more than doubling from PHP 385.70 to PHP 2,867.82 under Level 4.

Fuel surcharges are variable fees collected by the airline on top of the base fare to offset the volatility of jet fuel costs. It is adjusted based on movements in jet fuel prices using the Mean of Platts Singapore benchmark.

For airlines collecting the surcharge in foreign currency, the applicable conversion rate is PHP 58.11 to the dollar, CAB said.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Monday evening announced that CAB has shortened its one-month review of the fuel surcharge to just 15 days to allow the regulator to quickly adjust rates if jet fuel prices change.

This is the first time that CAB is implementing a 15-day price monitoring and implementation cycle for the imposition of fuel surcharge for domestic and international flights.

“The shorter cycle of 15-days during this extraordinary period of high volatility in fuel prices shall allow faster response to market changes, reducing the lag between actual fuel costs and applicable fuel surcharge,” CAB said in an advisory.

It said that the move will help cushion the impact of volatile fuel prices and rising costs.

“The more gradual and incremental implementation of fuel surcharge to be collected from passengers can be a way of softening the impact of higher fuel surcharge increases, and enable faster reduction when fuel prices decline,” CAB said.

CAB said it will announce the next applicable level of fuel surcharge at least three days before its effectivity. This interim measure will remain in place until global oil prices stabilize, it added.

According to monitoring by the International Air Transport Association, jet fuel prices climbed 11.2% week on week to USD 175 per barrel as of March 13. On a yearly basis, jet fuel prices surged by 94.4%, data from the airline trade association showed.

“We acknowledge the recent announcement by the CAB setting the interim fuel surcharge to Level 8. We understand that any increase in travel costs may affect passengers,” AirAsia Philippines said in a statement.

The low-cost carrier said it will continue to implement operational efficiency measures to help offset the impact of rising costs on travelers. BusinessWorld also sought comments from Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific but has yet to receive a response by the deadline.

Mr. Marcos also earlier directed the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to reduce passenger service charge, or the terminal fee, landing and take-off fees and other airport-related fees as the ongoing war between US-Israel and Iran continues to drive up global oil prices.

Meanwhile, Clark International Airport operator LIPAD Corp. said it may trim its passenger forecast for the year if the war in the Middle East continues.

LIPAD Chief Executive Officer Noel F. Manankil told reporters that it is expecting a 15% increase in its total passenger volume for 2026 to 3.1 million mainly driven by the transfer of turboprops from Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“We are hopeful the mix would be 50:50 (international and domestic). Last year, I think we closed 60:40 in favor of international passengers,” Mr. Manankil said.

Since the conflict ensued, which led to cancellation of flights to Middle East, he said LIPAD is expecting a reduction of 20,000 passengers a month, or about 120,000 passengers in six months.

LIPAD logged a total of 2.75 million passengers in 2025, 15% higher than the 2.40 million in 2024. — A. E.O. Jose