Transport / Loganair adjusts fuel surcharge – with fee dropping on some Sumburgh routes
LOGANAIR has confirmed it will adjust its fuel surcharge on new ticket sales in response to changes in global fuel prices – with some Sumburgh flights seeing a reduction.
It means trips connecting Sumburgh to Kirkwall, Aberdeen and Inverness will see the surcharge drop from £3.95 to £1.95.
However most other routes from Sumburgh – Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Bergen – will remain at £3.95.
The fee for Sumburgh to Manchester and London City flights will increase to £5.95.
The airline, which announced the levy in March this year as worldwide oil prices increased, has set out three surcharge zones in line with distance travelled.
This means that the fuel surcharge on the shortest flights under 200 miles will fall from its current £3.95 per flight to £1.95 from 9 September.
It is in line with Loganair’s original pledge to cut the surcharge when the price of Brent Crude falls below $110 per barrel for more than six consecutive weeks.
However, the airline said the cost increase across the industry is still significant, especially in view of the deteriorating US dollar exchange rate against UK Sterling given that oil is globally traded in US dollars.
As as a result the airline has now set out differentiated surcharges for two groups of longer routes where travel is more than 200 miles.
The new fuel surcharge, effective from 9 September, is as follows:
- Zone one, under 200 miles: £1.95 – reduces from £3.95
- Zone two, between 200 and 300 miles – remains the same at £3.95
- Zone three for routes over 300 miles – increases to £5.95
The airline said the new zonal structure will enable it to ensure that customers are not unfairly penalised when it comes to the actual fuel burn that is created by the distance of the route.
Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said: “We are happy to announce that on our key island and local community flying, we’re today halving the fuel surcharge for new bookings – as we promised we would do back when Brent Crude prices remained under $110 for six consecutive weeks.
“However, fuel prices remain highly volatile and a combination of US dollar exchange rates and refinery costs means that we’re paying more for fuel today than we were in March.
“Therefore, it’s only right that we address the balance and as we go into the winter, it is essential that we adjust charges to reflect these costs.
“We are continuously monitoring the situation and will keep customers completely updated with any changes.”
The changes to the fuel surcharge are determined by the date of booking and not the date of travel, therefore the new zone rates will only apply on bookings made from 9 September.
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