BA raises fuel surcharge

British Airways has followed rival airline Virgin Atlantic by increasing fuel surcharges on all its flights from Tuesday.

As a result of the latest increases, passengers on BA long haul flights lasting more than nine hours will have to pay £218 in fuel surcharges for a return flight. This is an increase of £30 per flight each way.

For long haul flights of less than nine hours the fuel surcharge is increased by £15 per flight to £78 each way. On short haul flights passengers face an increase of £3 per flight, adding £32 in fuel surcharges to the cost of a return flight.

This is the second time in a month that BA has announced an increase in fuel surcharges as the price of oil continues to rocket. The airline says it will increase fuel surcharges by a similar level in markets outside the UK.

Rival airline Virgin Atlantic is also increasing fuel surcharges on its flights from today. But it is the first airline where economy class passengers will pay lower fuel surcharges than those travelling in first or business class.

“Our Upper Class and Premium Economy passengers benefit from considerably more space on our aircraft and larger baggage allowances than our Economy passengers, so our aircraft burn more fuel to carry them. We believe that Economy passengers should pay lower fuel charges than passengers in our two premium cabins as their carbon footprint is around half of those seated towards the front of the plane," explains Virgin Atlantic chief executive, Steve Ridgway.

Fuel surcharges for economy passengers go up by £2.50 on short haul flights and £4.50 on long haul flights. Upper Class passengers will pay £22.50 more on short haul flights and £28.50 extra on long haul flights.

Written by: Nick Purdom