FlySafair introduces fuel surcharge amid Middle East crisis
South Africa’s biggest low-cost airline, FlySafair, has announced it will implement a temporary fuel surcharge to help it cope with sharply higher global jet fuel prices resulting from the war in the Middle East.
The crude market has been hit by wild volatility since the United States and Israel began striking Iran at the end of last month, with Tehran retaliating by attacking targets across the oil-rich Gulf and effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, Crude futures fluctuated between gains of between two and six per cent as the release of oil reserves by some countries helped offset news of attacks on commercial ships in the Gulf.
Fears that the conflict could drag on -- choking off energy supplies -- sent both main crude contracts soaring on Monday to within a whisker of $120 a barrel, the highest since 2022.
In a statement, FlySafair said it has absorbed steep fuel cost increases to shield passengers from immediate airfare increases.
“With Jet A1 Fuel prices at South African coastal airports now up approximately 70% in just one week, and no clear end in sight, the airline has reached the point where it must pass on a portion of these costs to ensure the long-term sustainability of the airline and its low fare offering,” the airline explained.
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The surcharge takes effect from 12 March and will apply only to flights departing on or before that date, reflecting the airline’s hope that this is a short-term crisis requiring a short-term response.
“We will be specifically itemising this temporary dynamic fuel surcharge on all tickets to ensure fairness and transparency to our customers,” said Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair.
The airline said that fuel typically makes up 50–55% of its direct operating costs.
At current price levels, the airline estimates an additional cost of around R35,000 per flight hour for each Boeing 737-800 aircraft in operation.
“The persistence and scale of these fuel costs have left us with no reasonable alternative,” says Gordon.
“Instead of increasing fares across the board or hiding costs, we have chosen to introduce a clearly labelled, temporary surcharge. This gives customers full visibility into what they are paying for and allows us to remove the surcharge once prices stabilise.”
