BA to Raise Fares in the Face of Soaring Oil Prices

Those willing to choose to fly with British Airways (BA) will be bound to defray more money for their plane tickets now that the company has decided to raise fares in an effort to stave off the fallout of spiking oil prices, Travel Weekly magazine reported.

The airline has added a £5 ($8.80) surcharge to return trip tickets and £2.50 to one-way tickets. BA´s move comes alongside similar announcements from Australia´s Qantas and Air New Zealand.

The airlines said they had been forced to make the decision because of a 60 percent rise in the price of jet fuel over the past year. Previously, US carriers Continental and American Airlines added a surcharge to their domestic fares.

And on Monday in New York, the benchmark light, sweet crude closed at $40.06 a barrel, its highest close since October 1990. BA said the £5/£2.50 fuel surcharge would apply to tickets bought in the UK for international flights.