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Updated Monday, September 6, 2010 9:36 pm TWN, By Karamjit Kaur, The Straits Times, Asia News Network

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Singapore Airlines to hike ticket prices again next month

SINGAPORE- With fares across the industry already back to where they were before the global economic crisis hit in late 2008, this could push prices past that peak.

Indications are that other carriers will follow suit, said travel agents, given the better-than-expected recovery.

The Straits Times has learnt that in SIA's case, fares will go up from Oct. 1 by as much as US$200 for an economy seat and up to US$1,000 more for a premium ticket.

Student fares that come with a 40kg baggage allowance - double the usual - will also go up, for example, from US$2,000 to US$2,300 for a Singapore-London return ticket and from US$750 to US$900 for those studying in Perth, Australia. The fares exclude taxes and other charges.

A spokesman for the airline said that fares are “a function of market demand and supply and they are adjusted depending on market conditions.”

Actual changes vary from route to route and a range of fares is offered in different booking classes, she said, which makes it impossible to predict how ticket prices may change.

Fare increases during the last two hikes were at about the same quantum.

Malaysia Airlines' senior general manager for sales and marketing, Bernard Francis, said that many airlines had brought fares back up to pre-crisis levels.

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