DAMMAM, 2 October - War Risk Insurance Surcharge (WARIS) on airline tickets come into effect from today. Almost all international carriers, including Saudi Arabian Airlines, have increased their fares on international routes. There are few airlines that are also charging WARIS on their domestic routes.
The national carrier Saudia will now charge an additional SR19 on each international sector. But it is not charging any levy on domestic routes.
According to a Saudia circular, WARIS to be collected at the time of the ticket issuance and the form of payment will be cash only. WARIS is not commissionable.
Interestingly the rates charged by different airlines vary from SR5 to SR57 per coupon. The GCC airlines like Gulf Air, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Kuwait Airways are charging SR19 per sector, while Air-India, Philippine Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Biman (Bangladesh Airlines), Turkish Airlines and Pakistan International Airlines are charging SR10 per sector. Singapore Airlines is charging as low as SR5 on its international as well as domestic sectors, while Egypt Air is charging SR8 per sector.
Garuda is charging SR27 for Asian sectors excluding Japan and European routes. On the Japanese sector it is charging SR57. Syrian Airline is charging SR12, while Jordanian Airline is charging SR19 on both international and domestic sectors.
A high-ranking official of Saudi Arabian Airlines in Europe has said that the terror attacks in the US have been a serious blow not only to the US airlines industry but the industry worldwide, according to
Khalid Al-Balwi, manager of the SAA for Britain and the Scandinavian countries, said recently that Saudi Airlines, which has been giving top priority to the safety of passengers, will have to review its security arrangements in line with the new security measures being adopted by international airports and other airlines companies.
The carry-on baggage has been reduced to a single item for each passenger in London, with the aim of easing the crowds at security checkpoints and enabling faster passenger boarding. There are also steps underway to ensure the security of transit baggage, Al-Balwi added.
The tourist industry will also be affected by the new security regulations.
"The new security regulations are likely to have a negative impact on the tourist movement and a sharp fall in their number in the next six months," the manager said.
The economic impacts on the industry in general will vary, he said.
The airline companies now face tough regulations as part of the tighter security measures in several international airports. The new changes mean unforeseen additional expense for the airline companies, he said.
