Middle East conflict pushes FlySafair to add extra fuel fee

The economic impact of the Middle East conflict is starting to reach South Africans, with low-cost airline FlySafair announcing it will introduce a temporary extra fuel fee on flights from Thursday. The airline said on Wednesday it has had to absorb higher fuel costs since the Middle East crisis erupted on 28 February to protect passengers from paying higher airfares. However, FlySafair says it can no longer manage them and will have to pass on some of these 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,” said the airline. In a statement, the airline said the temporary fuel surcharge, a measure it has resisted throughout its history, will take effect from 12 March 2026. The surcharge will apply only to flights departing on or before 12 May 2026.

“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 the airline. The airline said it has never implemented a fuel surcharge before. “The persistence and scale of these fuel costs have left us with no reasonable alternative,” added Gordon.

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“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.” Rising tensions in the Middle East have disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important trade routes. At least 20% of the world’s oil supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

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