Most of you probably recall the good news in May 2020, when Cathay Pacific took advantage of low fuel prices to do away with its fuel surcharges on both revenue and award tickets, cutting the cash cost of redemptions using Asia Miles on its services if you booked on or after 1st May 2020.
Last month the flip side was bad news – Cathay had brought back its fuel surcharge from 1st February 2021, with further increased rates effective for bookings made on or after 1st March 2021.
Well it’s more bad news unfortunately – jet fuel prices have continued to increase recently, up around 12% over the last month, prompting Cathay Pacific to hike its fuel surcharge for the third time this year, applicable to tickets booked from 1st April 2021.
Latest Cathay Pacific fuel surcharges
Here’s how Cathay’s fuel surcharges will increase for cash and award tickets booked from 1st April 2021, compared to current rates (remember all these rates were zero back in January 2021!), for the most common routings applicable to our readers.
Cathay Pacific Fuel Surcharges
| Route | Fuel Surcharge | |
| Until 31 Mar 2021 | From 1 Apr 2021 | |
| Singapore ⇅ Bangkok, Hong Kong |
US$9.00 (S$12.20) |
US$10.90 (S$14.80) |
| Hong Kong ⇅ N.Asia, China |
US$9.00 (S$12.20) |
US$10.90 (S$14.80) |
| Hong Kong ⇅ Australia / NZ, US / Canada, Europe, Africa, Middle East, S. Asia |
US$40.00 (S$54.10) |
US$48.70 (S$65.90) |
Exchange rates to SGD conversion correct at time of writing.
Note that fuel surcharges for tickets purchased in Hong Kong are applied in HKD.
As you can see these are still reasonable enough levels not to be too alarmed about, though the increases are slightly in excess of 20%.
Fuel surcharges apply to award tickets on Cathay Pacific booked using Asia Miles and Avios points, but not to those redeemed with Alaska Mileage Plan miles.
How are fuel surcharges calculated?
Cathay Pacific applies its fuel surcharges sector-by-sector, so for a simple Singapore – Hong Kong return trip booked after