British Airways, the flag carrier of United Kingdom, has introduced an increase in the fuel surcharge imposed on travellers who fly on its premium class seats.

With the new tiered system for calculating charges, those travelling in the carrier's First Class, World Traveller Plus and Club World will be paying up to £24 more than people travelling in economy class. This is not a surprising move as almost all the airlines of the world are increasing fuel surcharge due to increased costs of fuel and it is also expected that further increase is also possible due to the fact that oil prices are expected to grow further in future.

The new system, which mirrors one newly introduced by Virgin Atlantic, marks the third time as many months that the carrier has increased its fuel surcharges in an attempt to deal with the all-time high fuel costs.

Passengers traveling in its economy-class will now pay £109 as fee for most long-haul services of more than nine hours' journey, as compared to the fee of £121 for World Traveller Plus travellers and £133 for both First Class and Club World passengers.

An airline spokesperson said that the decision was appropriate as the premium customers enjoy additional benefits of more space in the cabin and a higher luggage allowance than others.

Among other carriers that have raised their fuel surcharge in the past fortnight include Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Air France.