British Airways and Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic said on Friday they would raise fuel surcharges following similar moves by major European carriers this week as oil prices surged.
British Airways, Europe's second-largest carrier, said it would raise the ticket surcharge for all UK long-haul bookings to GBP£10 (USD$18) per flight from GBP£6.
The short-haul surcharge for UK bookings will be increased to GBP£4 (USD$7.20) from GBP£2.50 and effective on tickets issued from October 14.
It was the second time the carrier has raised ticket surcharges on long-haul flights since it introduced the measure in May to help offset higher fuel costs.
Oil prices touched a high of USD$53 on Thursday, marking the third day in a row that prices set all-time highs. Fuel is an airline's second-biggest cost after staff.
Lufthansa and Air France-KLM both announced plans earlier this week to increase fuel surcharges.
Virgin Atlantic, which is 51 percent owned by British billionaire Branson and 49 percent owned by Singapore Airlines, matched BA's rise, saying it would also lift charges to GBP£10 for all flights from October 14.
"As a long-haul carrier our fuel costs represent a higher share of our costs, at current prices 22 percent, so we're hit harder than other airlines," Virgin said in a statement.
BA doubled long-haul ticket surcharges in August due to soaring oil prices but left the short-haul charge unchanged.
BA, whose fuel surcharge triggered similar charges among Europe's biggest full-service airlines earlier this year, has its fuel price hedged at USD$32 per barrel for 72 percent of its needs until March 2005.
