Domestic air ticket prices to cost more as fuel costs rise

Passengers will have to pay slightly more for their domestic air tickets from Tuesday as Chinese airlines begin imposing fuel surcharges on domestic routes to offset the rising fuel costs, three years after they cancelled the charge.  

The airlines, including Air China, China Eastern, Kunming Airlines and Spring Airlines, will levy 10 yuan (US$1.56) in fuel surcharge for all domestic routes from tomorrow. But children as well as wounded military and police officers do not need to pay the charge.

Other airlines are expected to raise their ticket prices soon.

The return of the surcharge is due to the rise in the price of domestic jet fuel which has surpassed the surcharge threshold of 5,000 yuan per ton, said Zhang Wu'an, spokesman at Shanghai-based Spring Airlines.

"It is unclear whether the surcharge will be adjusted again through the end of the year," said Zhang.

Passengers on domestic routes also still must pay a 50-yuan Civil Aviation Development Fund fee on top of their ticket fare.

In 2015, the airlines stopped charging fuel surcharges on domestic routes as jet fuel prices declined.