Japan Air Lines Group today announced it is asking to reinstate a fuel surcharge on international air fares on passenger tickets issued from Oct. 1. It would tack on $39 each way to flights to and from Hawaii.
High fuel surcharges have been cited as a factor in a declining number of Japanese tourists flying to the Islands, so tourism officials will monitor any increase.
The JAL Group has requested approval from the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism citing recent increases in fuel prices.
The fuel surcharge for international tickets issued between July 1 and Sept. 30 was removed when the average price of Singapore kerosene (jet fuel) from February to April, 2009 fell below the $60 U.S. per barrel benchmark.
Based on the average increasing to $71.41 per barrel of Singapore kerosene in the 3-month period of May to July, 2009, JAL decided to resume charging fuel surcharge for international tickets issued within the three months starting October 1 to December 31, 2009.

The fuel surcharge to be placed on tickets issued from January to March 2010 will be reviewed based on the average price of fuel for August through to October, 2009.
A JAL spokeswoman said the company is continuously conducting a wide range of measures to limit the full impact of the price increase including the introduction of more fuel-efficient small and medium-sized aircraft to its fleet.