A new fuel surcharge introduced by Air Canada late last week will likely have a negative impact on the country's tourism industry, according to George Murphy, a prominent consumer advocate interviewed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The new fuel surcharge hike was announced on Friday afternoon and it will make some roundtrip domestic flights as much as $120 more expensive. Passengers travelling on routes that are 1,601.6 kilometres in length will be the most heavily impacted by this newest fuel hike. Those travelling on shorter and regional routes, will also find that the cost of air travel has increased-thanks to the rise in the fuel surcharge-but they will be required to pay a smaller portion of this burden. Air Canada, however, pointed out that even these fees will be unable to completely compensate for the steep rise in jet fuel.

Air Canada reportedly spent more than $130 million on fuel during the first three months of the year, than it did during the same period in 2007. If projections hold, the Canadian flag carrier will end up spending $220 million more during the current quarter.

Although Air Canada already increased the fuel surcharge on all transborder routes to the United States, the airline waited a day before making the announcement on the rise in the cost of domestic travel. Passengers can now expect to pay $40 for fuel on short-haul, regional flights, $80 for medium-haul trips and $120 for long-haul domestic flights, such as between Montreal and Vancouver. Murphy criticized the fact that Air Canada implemented this increase just weeks before the start of the peak tourist season and called on the government to help create more competition in the air travel market, by possibly coming up with a liberalizing open skies deal.