BA increases fuel surcharges

British Airways (BA) has announced that it is increase the fuel surcharge on its long-haul flights.

From June 13th, passengers flying with BA on long-haul flights of less than nine hours will have to pay between £33 per sector (£66 return) to £38 (£76 return).

For flights over nine hours, the surcharge will rise to between £38 per sector to £43 (£86 return).

On short-haul services the surcharge will remain at £8 per sector (£16 return).

The airline said that the increases were necessary as the cost of fuel had shot up in recent months.

"The cost of fuel has again risen significantly in recent weeks. Unfortunately, we have little choice but to pass on some of this extra cost to our customers," explained Robert Boyle, BA's commercial director.

"Fuel continues to be our second largest cost and we expect our fuel bill this year to be more than £2 billion.

"The price of oil continues to be extremely volatile. Therefore, we believe the fuel surcharge continues to be the most transparent way for our customers to understand what they are paying and allows us to adjust the direct cost to our customers."

However, low-cost carrier Ryanair criticised the move. The airline's head of communication, Peter Sherrard, said: "This is British Airways' ninth rip-off fuel surcharge since May 2004.

"In that time the price of oil has doubled but British Airways' fuel surcharge has increased 17-fold."