South Korean Airlines To Abolish Fuel Surcharges

February 2, 2009

South Korean carriers said on Monday they would abolish fuel surcharges on international flights from March 1 to April 30, in line with a drop in crude oil prices.

Korean Air, the country's largest carrier and the world's top cargo airline, and its smaller rival Asiana Airlines, will from next month eliminate fuel surcharges, which rose to as high as USD$221 on long-distance international flights in September to October last year. Current surcharges are around USD$41 per flight.

"(The move) reflects average actual jet fuel prices in December and January," said Lee Cha-yeon, spokeswoman at Asiana Airlines.

"The (average) price was at around USD$1.42 a gallon, below USD$1.50 a gallon, which is the benchmark price to adopt surcharges on domestic and international flights.

Crude oil prices surged more than six-fold since 2002 to near USD$150.00 a barrel in mid-July last year, but have fallen below USD$40 in recent months, hurt by the global economic slowdown.