No schedule to resume the fuel surcharge on the domestic flights, so said an official with Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), according to a Xinhua report.

Since June 30, with the approval of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the price of No.3 jet fuel, the type extensively used by airline companies, went up from 4,020 (US$588.58) to 5,050 yuan (US$739.39) per ton, up 25.6 percent. By May 19, the jet fuel price had already experienced an increase in pricing by 460 yuan (US$67.35) per ton.

Under this circumstance, almost all major domestic airline carriers are reported to be inclined to resume the fuel surcharge in order to maintain their profit margin.

"The media is stirring up a sensation." says a CAAC staff member, "As of the end of last Friday, we hadn't received any airline company's formal application to resume the surcharge." And this contact also indicates that no plans have been made regarding the time to resume the surcharge, nor the sum.

As to the fuel price rise, international crude oil pricing once again moderately tumbled on July 7 and ended the day at US$64.12 per barrel, down 8.26 percent from the June 30 price of US$69.89. Therefore, NDRC and CAAC will have more to ponder in deciding whether or not to resume the surcharge.

Earlier on January 4 this year, NDRC and CAAC called off the fuel surcharge levied on Chinese domestic flights that started on August 2005. But the call-off memo also suggested future possibility to resume the fee in case the need arises.

For more information, please consult the original coverage in Chinese at:

http://www.21cbh.com/HTML/2009-7-8/HTML_72PPGUVESQLK.html

(China.org.cn by Maverick Chen, July 8, 2009)