Domestic airfares to drop by average of 4.3% after CPC cuts fuel prices

Taipei, Dec. 2 (CNA) Domestic airfares will drop by an average of 4.3 percent from Dec. 31 following a cut in fuel prices by the state-owned CPC Corp., Taiwan, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said Monday.

Under a local air ticket pricing mechanism, domestic flight operators must cut fares if fuel prices set by CPC fall below a certain threshold, which is NT$21.74 (US$0.67) per liter for the October-December period.

Mandarin Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Taiwan's state-owned flag carrier China Airlines, will see the biggest fare cut, with one-way tickets on its Taipei-Kinmen route dropping from NT$2,641 to NT$2,459, down NT$182 or 6.1 percent.

One-way tickets between Taipei and Kinmen on flights run by EVA Airway's subsidiary UNI Airways will see the second-largest drop, falling from NT$2,618 to NT$2,458, down NT$160 or 6.1 percent.

Daily Air passengers flying from Taitung to Green Island will see the smallest reduction, with one-way fares dropping only NT$30 or NT$2.7 percent from NT$1,130 to NT$1,100.

Carriers will refund the price difference to passengers who have already bought tickets for flights departing after Dec. 31, the CAA said.

According to market analysts, fuel accounts for about 40 percent of a carrier's operating costs.