By MB Online and Emmie Abadilla
Passengers will have something to smile about starting March as air fares will become cheaper.
This is due to the fact that the applicable fuel surcharge level allowed which is imposed on airlines went down by a notch because of the steady decline of jet fuel prices.
The Civil Aeronautics Board said that from level 3 of the fuel surcharge matrix for domestic and international flights airfare will go down to level 2 from March 1 to April 30, 2019.
Under level 3, airlines are allowed to impose an increase of P 45 to P 171 per passenger for domestic flights and P 218 to P 2, 076 for international flights.
Thus, under level 2, airlines will be allowed to impose a lower price increase than that of level 3. Consequently, airfare will go down considerably.
Earlier, CAB said that domestic and international fares will go down if jet fuel prices continue to go down as well.
CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla, in a previous interview with reporters, said that when jet fuel prices are up not all airline companies pass the fuel surcharges to their fares so as to keep the ticket prices low and attract more passengers.
Airline companies have been looking forward to the change in the trend as jet fuel prices soared in 2017 and 2018.
They have expressed optimism that this year will be better for them especially with the expected decrease in jet fuel prices.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) reportedly suffered losses in 2017 due to the fuel expenses, fleet expansion, increased frequencies and adding new routes.
However, with the decline in jet fuel prices, PAL is looking forward to a more profitable year in 2019.