Airfares to rise by 40 percent

Passengers in the United Kingdom will soon be paying 40 percent more for their airfare, due to soaring fuel costs, according to industry experts. The people who will be most heavily affected by these increases are ‘ordinary’ British holidaymakers, who are looking to enjoy their annual summer break, along with their families. Observers now predict that several thousand Britons will consider cancelling more distant, expensive holidays, and will instead look to spend their vacation closer to home, in order to save on spiralling travel costs.

One of the most pressing problems is that many airlines are now dramatically increasing their fuel surcharges. For example, a family of four travelling with British Airways on a long-haul flight will now have to pay an extra £872, simply to cover the fuel surcharge. As such, even if basic air ticket rates have not increased by significant margins, additional fees that are not included in the initially quoted price end up making air travel much more expensive than ever before.

If Morgan Stanley’s predictions are accurate, however, UK passengers had best buckle up for much steeper fee hikes in the very near future. The financial analyst firm believes that that the “worst is yet to come” and that as the price of oil on the world market reaches an unprecedented $140 per barrel, fuel surcharges will keep increasing on a regular basis. Additionally, carriers like British Airways will find it much more difficult to cope with soaring price of oil, and Morgan Stanley has already cut its revenue forecasts for most airlines.

www.britishairways.com