SPANISH budget airline Volotea is adding surcharges to flight bookings due to spikes in fuel costs caused by the Iran war.
Emails have been sent to people who have reserved flights up to seven days before departure with a maximum surcharge of €14 per person.
The Barcelona-based carrier says it is seeking to ‘ensure operational stability, minimizing the impact on a constantly evolving global environment’ of the war in Iran.
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Called the ‘Fair Travel Promise’, the policy came into force on March 16 and reinforces Volotea’s stance in ‘not introducing arbitrary fixed fuel supplements’.
It says its approach is ‘innovative’ and that it combines ‘flexibility, fair treatment, freedom of choice and transparency’.
Volotea takes the market prices of fuel from public sources a week before at flight and adjusts the price of tickets- in theory both up or down.
For an increase it applies a supplement of up to €14 per passenger per flight.
If prices decrease, it promises to refund travellers for the difference up to that same amount.
Travellers have the option to modify their flight or cancel their reservation free of charge up to four hours before departure if they are not satisfied with any changes.
Volotea claims that since the introduction of the ‘Fair Travel Promise’ 97% of customers have chosen to confirm their trip, demonstrating that the initiative ‘is aligned with customer expectations and offers a fair alternative to fixed price increases’.
The airline has also readjusted its schedule in the short term, cancelling some flights due to the ‘sharp increase’ in fuel prices.
It says the changes account for less than 1% of scheduled flights.
“Pity to see a funky airline like Volotea resort to such a gritty survival instinct. I understand the ‘why’ behind the fuel costs, but charging for already booked seats is a bold move that risks a lot of goodwill,” one reader posted on the ‘Simple Flying’ blog.
“A loophole in the conditions of carriage allows them to do this? Who ever reads the conditions of carriage?” a second reader added.
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