Regional airline Loganair will add a fuel surcharge on new ticket sales later this month in response to surging fuel prices.
The surcharge of £3.95 per one-way journey will apply on all new bookings except for routes flown under Public Service Obligations.
It will be included in the headline price displayed when selecting flights on the Loganair website but, for full clarity, it will be shown separately once flights have been selected into the customer’s online basket.
Chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said it is “simply impossible” for the airline to absorb the rising fuel costs especially as there is still “significant uncertainty” over the pace of recovery from the pandemic.
In a statement, he said: “The tragedy of war in Ukraine is all too apparent, and the human consequences of that are clearly – and dreadfully – visible.
“Last week, Loganair made contact with councils and regional governments of the communities it serves to offer assistance with free travel across its route network for people displaced by the conflict.
“We’ve developed contingency plans to deploy our freighter aircraft to fly medical or humanitarian aid directly from Scotland to locations in eastern Poland if the need arises.
“We have also taken every possible step to ensure that none of our supplier base or trading links benefit Russia or Russian interests in any way.
“Closer to home, the economic consequences of the war are also being felt keenly across the airline industry and the entire economy, given the very significant rise in worldwide fuel prices in recent days.”
He said Loganair has already fixed the price for more than 50% of its expected fuel volume for the 12 months from April 1, using financial hedging instruments.
For the remainder of its fuel volume, the rise in global oil prices equates to an additional cost of £4.7 million in the coming year at today’s oil price.
“We’ve realistically no option but to introduce a fuel surcharge on new ticket sales, which will apply to new sales from March 21 onwards,” he added.
“This isn’t something that we wished to do, nor is it a step that we have taken lightly.
“Although it will be unwelcome, I trust that this represents a transparent response to worldwide circumstances which is preferable to an opaque, and permanent, increase in basic air fares.”
The airline also set out the steps for the fuel charge’s removal when global oil prices fall.
If the price of Brent crude oil falls below $110 per barrel for six consecutive weeks, the surcharge will be halved; if it falls further, below $85 per barrel for six consecutive weeks, then it will be removed completely.
The eligibility for the fuel surcharge will be determined by the date of booking and not the date of travel, so no fuel surcharge will apply to existing bookings.