The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) has approved a request by Taiwan's carriers to increase fuel surcharges on international routes to help them offset an increase in aviation fuel prices. The new measures, to take effect on tickets issued from May 17, will see the fuel surcharge raised to US$20 from US$17.50 per passenger for each short-haul flight and to US$52 from US$45.50 for each long-haul flight. That means the round-trip fuel charge will be increased by NT$157 (US$5) per person for short-haul flights and by NT$408 per person for long-haul flights, the CAA said in a statement issued Monday. A fuel surcharge is a fee added to a ticket by an airline to temporarily offset increases in jet fuel prices. The increase came after state-run oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan announced Monday it would raise the price of aviation fuel to US$103.18 per barrel, prompting local carriers flying international routes to petition the CAA for an increase in the surcharge. This is the first time Taiwan's airlines have hiked fuel surcharges since Dec. 15, 2009. Meanwhile, Taiwan's China Airlines and EVA Airways Corp., the country's biggest carriers, will from May 11 raise the surcharges on flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong by US$1 to US$11.8 based on Hong Kong's adjustment mechanism. 