Sino-Singapore Jingwei, August 5th (Wang Yongle) Good news!
The fuel surcharge has finally been lowered after the "five consecutive increases". Starting today (5th), you can save up to 60 yuan on air tickets.
Fuel surcharge lowered after "five consecutive increases"
According to incomplete statistics, recently, at least Hainan Airlines, Kunming Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Guilin Airlines, West Air, Sunan Ruili Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Colorful Guizhou Airlines and other domestic airlines have officially announced or notified the booking platform on From 0:00 on August 5 (the date of ticket issuance), the fuel surcharges for domestic flights will be adjusted.
Screenshot of China Southern Airlines WeChat account
Screenshot of Sunan Ruili Airlines Weibo
Judging from the notices from airlines, this fuel surcharge reduction is based on the spirit of the relevant documents of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the latest aviation kerosene price policy of the Administration.
The specific policies for price adjustment include: the fuel surcharge for routes with a distance of less than 800 kilometers (inclusive) is 80 yuan per segment; the fuel surcharge for routes with a distance of more than 800 kilometers is 140 yuan per segment; before August 4 (inclusive) For domestic passenger tickets sold, if the change is made after August 5 (inclusive), the collected fuel surcharge will not be refunded or made up.
On July 29, Longzhong Information once issued a document saying that the international oil price is in a downward trend, and the price of jet fuel has been lowered as a whole.
"According to relevant regulations, there is a linkage mechanism between the fuel surcharge of civil aviation domestic routes and the price of aviation kerosene, that is to say, the adjustment of the air ticket fuel fee is linked to the change of the price of aviation kerosene. When the price of aviation kerosene is higher than the benchmark price (5000 When there is a change in the fuel surcharge, the airline can adjust the fuel surcharge according to the corresponding adjustment mechanism. With the weakening of the international oil price, the aviation kerosene price has been adjusted after the continuous rise, so the airline will adjust the fuel surcharge according to the regulations of the linkage mechanism. fuel surcharges." Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of Tongcheng Research Institute, said in an analysis of Sino-Singapore Jingwei.
Sino-Singapore Jingwei noted that this is the first time that the fuel surcharge has been lowered since the resumption of collection in February this year, and it has been raised five times before.
Looking at it, on January 5 this year, domestic routes cancelled the collection of fuel surcharges.
On February 5th, the fuel surcharge will be levied again, with 10 yuan and 20 yuan respectively for the segments of 800 kilometers and below and above; from March 5th, 20 yuan and 40 yuan respectively; from April 5th, 50 yuan respectively yuan and 100 yuan; from May 5, 60 yuan and 120 yuan respectively; from June 5, 80 yuan and 140 yuan respectively; from July 5, 100 yuan and 200 yuan, respectively The highest level since the fuel surcharge was levied in 2000.
Judging from the adjustment standard, after the fuel surcharge reduction, passengers can save up to 60 yuan by buying a ticket after August 5, compared to before the reduction.
Airline "blood loss" in the first half of the year
In the first half of the year, airline companies had a very difficult time, with losses for half a year exceeding that for the whole of 2021.
At the press conference of the Civil Aviation Administration held on July 12, Sun Wensheng, deputy director of the General Department of the Civil Aviation Administration, revealed that in the first half of the year, civil aviation was facing unprecedented difficulties. At the lowest level, there were only 2,967 classes, which was only 17.8% of the same period in 2019.
As of press time, a number of airlines have released performance forecasts for the first half of the year, all of which are in a state of loss.
Judging from the upper limit of net profit, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, ST Hainan Airlines, and China Southern Airlines all have pre-losses of over 10 billion yuan, and the four companies have a total pre-loss of 57.65 billion yuan, exceeding the 36.238 billion yuan loss in 2021.
Regarding the reasons for the loss, China Southern pointed out that the domestic civil aviation industry has been affected by multiple shocks such as repeated epidemics, high oil prices, and the devaluation of the RMB.
China Eastern Airlines said that the company is headquartered in Shanghai and has experienced severe challenges from the impact of the epidemic. At the same time, the sharp rise in international oil prices and the depreciation of the RMB against the US dollar have further aggravated the company's cost pressure.
Air China also stated that since the beginning of this year, the domestic epidemic has spread in many places, which has led to a significant reduction in investment in domestic routes; investment in international routes continues to be limited.
The rise in oil prices and exchange rate fluctuations further aggravated the difficulty of improving the company's efficiency, and the operating performance of investment companies related to the main business was also affected.
And ST HNA said that the company's loss this time was mainly due to operating losses and financial exchange losses.
Will the fuel surcharge cut stimulate travel and boost airline performance?
Cheng Chaogong said that the decline in fuel surcharges can reduce the travel cost of civil aviation passengers to a certain extent, and has a certain stimulating effect on the demand for non-public travel such as tourism and vacation.
"Fuel costs account for 30% to 40% of the total cost of airlines, and the continuous rise in aviation kerosene prices has brought greater pressure to airlines' operations. Therefore, the decline in oil prices will relieve airlines to a certain extent. The cost pressure has a certain positive effect on the improvement of performance fundamentals." Cheng Chaogong further analyzed.
In addition, Huatai Securities recently released a report saying that the epidemic situation is improving marginally, and the overall epidemic prevention policy is on the trend of loosening. Aviation demand is expected to continue to recover due to the summer season, and the probability of oil prices and exchange rates generating greater pressure is small, and airline profits are expected to improve. .
(Sino-Singapore Jingwei APP)
(The opinions in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investment is risky, and you need to be cautious when entering the market.)
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