Emirates to raise ticket prices from August 1

Emirates will be increasing ticket prices across all sectors, effective August 1, owing to soaring fuel prices, said the airline. The carrier's fares would go up by 10 per cent for First and Business Class and five per cent for Economy Class. "The staggering increase in fuel prices has had an inflationary effect on all our operational costs, forcing us to revise our fares accordingly," a spokesperson told Emirates Business.
"Emirates' fares remain competitive and we will continue to work very hard to shield our customers from major price fluctuations, while delivering a high quality in-flight product and travel experience," the spokesperson added. This is the second increase in the airline's fares in the last three months. Emirates had increased prices by nine per cent in June 2008, based on an oil price of US$110. "Emirates is better positioned than most global airlines to ride out the impact of high oil prices," Emirates' President, Tim Clark, recently told Emirates Business. Despite having made a profit of US$1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn) last year, Emirates had to pay an extra US$500m for fuel than budgeted.
Fuel costs have taken up around 43 per cent of Emirates' expenditure, up from just 30.6 per cent in April. "It is well above what we had thought of," said Clark. – Emirates Business 24|7