Cathay to reduce airline fuel surcharges from May 16 (updated)

Cathay Pacific Airways

08/05/2026 14:30

Adds link to Cathay's March fuel surcharges hike in paragraph 3, previous cut to Philippines‑originating flights in paragraph 8

Cathay says it will continue to review the surcharge

Had increased charges in March

Fuel accounts for up to a quarter of airline operating expenses

BEIJING, May 8 (Reuters) - Hong Kong ​airline Cathay ‌Pacific Airways 0293.HK will lower fuel surcharges for most of its passenger flights from May 16, it said on Friday, as part of its "agile response" to the energy price crisis caused by the Iran war.

Unprecedented energy supply disruption linked to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has hit the aviation industry particularly hard as fuel accounts for up to a quarter of operating expenses.

In response many airlines have raised fares and revised their financial outlooks and Cathay in March also announced rises in fuel surcharges.

But on Friday, it said it will broadly cut fuel surcharges for long‑haul flights by about HK$200 ($25.55) to HK$1,362 from HK$1,560, while reducing short‑haul surcharges by HK$50 to HK$339 from HK$389 and medium‑haul charges to HK$633 from HK$725.

For flights from mainland China to Hong Kong, the surcharge will remain at HK$135, while for those going in the opposite direction, they will stay at HK$165, a notice from the carrier showed.

"To enable a more agile response to the volatile jet fuel prices due to the Middle East situation, we continue to review the fuel surcharge every two weeks to better capture jet fuel price movements in either an upward or downward direction," the airline said in the notice on its website on Friday.

Hong Kong's transport and logistics authority welcomed the temporary easing, saying in a Facebook post that it is committed to working with local airlines to address challenges to minimise the impact on passenger and cargo capacity at Hong Kong International Airport.

In late April, Cathay announced a slight cut in fuel surcharges for flights originating from the Philippines from May, while charges for other routes were left unchanged.

($1 = 7.8276 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Shi Bu, Yukun Zhang and Liz Lee; editing by Barbara Lewis)

((Shi.Bu@thomsonreuters.com;))