FlySafair extends ticket surcharge to August

The airline says the surcharge is not static, with weekly reviews to assess the situation. Picture: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images/Getty Images South Africa’s largest airline, FlySafair, has extended the surcharge on ticket prices in a bid to thicken its buffer against the steep increase in fuel costs triggered by conflict in the Middle East. It will be in effect until August, if leaders of the warring countries can agree on a ceasefire sooner rather than later.

The low-cost airlineimplemented the surcharge mechanism in March, when jet fuel came under tremendous pressure after global oil prices surged to the highest since mid-2022 following the US and Israel’s war on Iran. The conflict in the Middle East has resulted in an effectiveshut down of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply flows. As a result, tanker traffic collapsed, with estimates suggesting a 70-80% drop in shipping through this critical route.

The impact on prices has been immediate and severe. Global oil prices have mirrored a pendulum, with Brent crude surging past $115 per barrel before settling around $87-$100 amid extreme volatility. More critically for aviation, Jet A1 fuel prices at South African coastal airports spiked by approximately 70% in just the first week of the hostilities.

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Fuel typically makes up 50-55% of an airline’s input costs (roughly the same for FlySafair’s direct operating costs). While FlySafair has extended the surcharge by another three months for now, the airline says it’s difficult to put a definitive timeline on how long it may remain necessary. It adds that it will depend entirely on how global fuel markets and supply dynamics evolve. “The biggest shift since the outset of the conflict has really been the timeline,” FlySafair chief marketing officer Kirby Gordon tells Moneyweb.

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