=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/08/19/f= inancial0842EDT0031.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, August 19, 2004 (AP) Singapore Airlines and SilkAir raise fuel surcharge to meet soaring oil pri= ces ANSLEY NG, Associated Press Writer (08-19) 05:42 PDT SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore Airlines and sister carrier SilkAir said Thursday that skyrocketing oil prices have forced them to raise ticket prices by up to $12, beginning next month. The fuel surcharge was announced as the price of crude oil reached anoth= er all-time high on Thursday, at $47.56 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, over continued supply fears. Passengers will be charged an additional $7 for flights between Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia, the airlines said. Flights outside of the region will cost an additional $12. "The revised surcharge will help defray, in part, the increase in costs arising from record fuel prices," the airlines said in separate statements. The only unaffected flight would be between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where a levy of $4 remains. The Singapore Airlines announcement comes just two days after chief executive Chew Choon Seng said the airline's pricing structure was under "active review." In June, Singapore Airlines -- the world's second-largest airline by market value -- imposed a $5 surcharge on all flights worldwide when oil prices hit $40 a barrel. Fuel costs account for about one-fifth of Singapore Airlines' total expenditure and it will consume over 1.4 billion gallons of fuel, or 27.3 million barrels, in the current financial year ending March 31, 2005, according to company estimates. Crude prices have risen due to a tight supply-demand situation, continui= ng violence in Iraq, a financial crisis at Russian oil giant Yukos and, most recently, instability in Venezuela and Nigeria -- both key OPEC members. Airlines may lose as much as $6 billion on international routes because = of higher oil prices, the International Air Transport Association warned recently. Singapore Airlines is majority-owned by Temasek Holdings, the city-state= 's investment arm. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP