TWO MORE CARRIERS ADD FUEL SURCHARGES

TWO MORE CARRIERS ADD FUEL SURCHARGES

   Northwest Airlines and air cargo management company Swisscargo announced they will add 10-cent per kilogram surcharges on air freight shipments to offset rising fuel prices.
   Northwest’s surcharge will take effect on Feb. 1 and cover all
transatlantic shipments originating in the U.S. or Europe. Northwest’s
announcement comes a day after alliance partners KLM Cargo and Alitalia Cargo said they will add a 10-cent per kilo fuel surcharge on all shipments in February.
   Swisscargo’s surcharge, also effective on Feb. 1, will cover all
shipments originating in countries were surcharges are permitted.
   Northwest said that spot jet fuel prices have more than doubled this
year from 33 cents per gallon in early March to 71 cents per gallon in
December.
   Swisscargo, which manages cargo capacity for European airlines Swissair and Sabena among others, said its fuel price index has risen from the sixties in the spring to above 130 in December.
   "Without responsive measures, such as the fuel surcharge, this
development could especially endanger the viability of Swisscargo’s
full-freighter program," the carrier said.