Travellers booking flights from Serbia are facing fuel surcharges of between €20 and €120 per ticket as rising jet fuel costs triggered by the conflict in the Middle East work through to fares.
Serbia’s travel industry association YUTA confirmed that such charges are highly likely, with the surcharge for destinations such as Egypt estimated to reach up to €100 per passenger.
Petar Vojinović, an aviation expert and editor of the Tango Six portal, explained that fuel surcharges vary from airline to airline and are intended to partially offset the rise in kerosene prices. “For airlines to fully compensate for this increase, they would need to nearly double ticket prices, but that would destroy demand, so they resort to smaller surcharge amounts instead,” he said.
Contracts with airlines typically stipulate that any fuel price increase of more than 2% triggers a surcharge, while travel agencies can absorb a maximum of 8% of such additional costs.
According to IATA, jet fuel prices have surged from a pre-conflict average of $85-$90 per barrel to as high as $200 in some regional hubs.
The issue is compounding wider uncertainty for Serbian travellers, many of whom are unsure whether to proceed with booked holidays or cancel. Legal adviser Marko Dragić of the National Organisation of Consumers of Serbia noted that passengers are entitled to refunds, but that no state of emergency has been declared at affected destinations, which complicates contractual arrangements. He advised consumers to follow recommendations from Serbia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding which countries to avoid.