CY considering fuel sucharge

CYPRUS Airways (CY) is examining the possibility of adding a fuel surcharge to its fares, an airline spokesman said yesterday.

“We are not increasing fares but introducing a fuel surcharge,” said spokesman Tassos Angelis. ‘There has been no decision yet but we expect one soon.”

Angelis said the airline has not put a figure yet on what the surcharge might be. He said the airline had no choice in the wake of rising oil prices on the international market. “The situation is out of control,” said Angelis.

Oil prices hit a record $68 a barrel yesterday and are expected to rise to as much as $70 a barrel.

The average price of an air ticket in Cyprus in 2004 was £214 compared to £247 in 2003, a drop of 13 per cent last year and back to the same level as the year 2000.
While travel agents’ commissions on air fares has dropped from 9 per cent to 7 per cent, the amount of money going to the government in airport insurance and taxes and fees was £18 million in 2004 compared to only £8.5 million in 2000.

Fuel has more that doubled in the last year and half and forced all airlines to put a fuel surcharge on the price of the ticket. This is collected as extra to the fare. Some airlines include the surcharge in the price of the ticket, while some added it on afterwards along with government taxes.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.