AirAsia: Lower fuel surcharge, sale promos to boost load factor

AIRASIA Philippines expects seat sales and a lower fuel surcharge for domestic and international flights in April to boost flights’ load factor in the second quarter.

On Wednesday, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) set the applicable fuel surcharge rates for domestic and international flights at Level 6 from April 1 to 30.

“This is expected to cushion the effects of the volatile movement of fuel prices in the world market,” an AirAsia representative said in a Viber message.

Under Level 6, passengers will have to pay a fuel surcharge of between P185 and P665 for domestic flights, and between P610.37 and P4,538.40 for international flights.

At the current Level 7, passengers are paying a fuel surcharge of between P219 and P739 for domestic flights, and between P722.71 and P5,373.69 for international flights.

In line with the agency’s move, CAB has advised airlines to file their application on or before the effectivity period before collecting the fuel surcharge for April.

During the period, the applicable conversion rate is $1 to P55.02 for the fuel surcharge to be collected.

“The Level 6 fuel surcharge, along with AirAsia’s regular sale promos are proven effective in sustaining the pent-up demand for air travel as reflected in the forward bookings for 0-90 days,” the airline said.

In the second quarter, the budget carrier said it saw an increase in load factor — or the percentage of available seats that have been filled with passengers — amid the reopening of international routes.

“We expect to maintain a higher load factor in the coming next months with the reopening of 90% of our international routes and the gradual increase in our fleet,” AirAsia said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile