All airlines operating from the UAE will double fuel surcharge on cargo from October 1. High oil prices have pushed the industry to increase the surcharge from five cents per kilogram to 10 cents.

The decision was made at an emergency meeting called by the Cargo Sub-committee (Casco), which include officials from all international airlines operating in the UAE, on Tuesday afternoon. Casco also agreed to keep the security surcharge of 10 cents per kilo which was introduced after September 11 last year.

Emirates SkyCargo, like many other airlines, adjusts its fuel surcharge according to a Fuel Surcharge Index.

The index is best described as a sliding scale, said an Emirates SkyCargo spokesperson. When the index reaches 115 points, a 5 cents surcharge is imposed on a kilo of cargo.

At 135 points and above, a 10 cents surcharge is applied, and when the index crosses 155 points, a 15 cents surcharge is charged.

"The surcharge was 5 cents but the index has crossed 135 points so it is going up to 10 cents from October 1," said the official. "If the index drops, then the surcharge drops."

When the index exceeds 135 points for more than two weeks, the 10 cents surcharge is usually automatically applied.

"For the past three weeks, the index has been above 140 points."

The index is based on the average price of aviation fuel in five key spot markets: Rotterdam, Singapore, New York, U.S. Gulf and U.S. West Coast.

The averages are monitored against a fixed base of $0.535 per U.S. gallon equal to index 100. The index on August 30 was 147 points, up from 141 points on August 23 and 16.

Since June 21, the index has been rising. By June 27 it jumped to 128 and then dropped on July 5 to 123. A week later, the index rose to 131, and then by July 19 it climbed further to 133.

By the last week of July it dropped to 130 points before climbing again on August 2 to reach 131.

A week later the level remained the same before climbing 10 points to 141, where it remained until August 30 when the index peaked at 147.