R368 flight ticket price pain for South Africans

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has directly impacted global oil prices, petroleum product exports, and jet fuel prices, forcing local airlines to increase ticket prices by up to R368.

Last week, South Africa’s biggest domestic airline, FlySafair, announced that it would be adding a temporary surcharge to its flight tickets to counter the rapid rise in jet fuel prices, the first time it has done so.

The surcharge took effect on 12 March and will remain in place on all tickets for flights departing before or on 12 May.

Since the conflict erupted at the end of February, FlySafair has shielded its passengers by absorbing rising fuel costs, but this has since become unsustainable.

Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair, explained that jet fuel prices at South Africa’s coastal airports had risen around 70% in a single week, forcing the airline to pass on a portion of its fuel costs.

“The persistence and scale of these fuel costs have left us with no reasonable alternative,” he said.

The airline’s operating costs have been severely impacted by global Brent crude oil price volatility, leading to an additional cost of around R35,000 per flight hour for each Boeing 737-800 aircraft in operation.

FlySafair is not the only airline in South Africa, or globally for that matter, that has been forced to adjust its ticket prices.

“Airlines worldwide, including Japan Airlines, ANA and several European carriers, apply fuel surcharges tied to benchmark jet fuel prices or long-haul cost structures,” the airline noted.

“South African carriers have also begun adjusting fares or signalled that future pricing will reflect the current fuel environment.”

FlySafair maintains constant contact with its fuel suppliers, monitoring import schedules and evaluating all its available supply channels.

Travellers the pinch

Gordon explained that surcharges will vary based on route length, accurately reflecting the fuel required per flight.

“Our teams are modelling fuel prices airport by airport and reviewing potential tankering strategies to ensure the surcharge reflects the minimum required amount,” he noted. 

“This is not a profit mechanism, it’s a measure to maintain service continuity while being upfront with customers.”

FlySafair published a breakdown of the surcharge amounts applicable to its routes, adding that previously booked ticket fares will remain unchanged and that no fuel surcharges will be added retroactively.

Below is a breakdown of the current surcharges on FlySafair’s routes.

It must be noted that these are dynamic and may change daily.

Travellers who booked their tickets before 11 March will not be affected by the temporary surcharge.

Those who booked from 12 March will be shown a separate line item on all flights departing on or before 12 May, while changed bookings will reflect the same.

“Instead of increasing fares across the board or hiding costs, we have chosen to introduce a clearly labelled, temporary surcharge,” added Gordon.

“This gives customers full visibility into what they are paying for and allows us to remove the surcharge once prices stabilise.”