JAL and ANA raise US fuel surcharge but overall fares lower
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways announced plans to increase fuel surcharges by JPY7000 (USD85.20) to JPY17,500 (USD213) per sector from Japan to North America for tickets issued from Apr-2011 (Nikkei, 07-Mar-2011). However, overall fares from Tokyo Narita to North America are lower, with the lowest fares to Los Angeles down 10% compared with early Jan-2011. Fares to New York are down by around 40% from early Jan-2011 levels. A likely reason behind the increase is increased capacity, as US airlines commence service to Tokyo Haneda, and due to the introduction of A380 equipment by Singapore Airlines between Narita and Los Angeles from late Mar-2011. Meanwhile, fares for China have increased. Fares from Narita to Beijing and Shanghai are 30-40% higher than in early Jan-2011.