Airlines Agree to International Fare Increases : Transportation: The 5% to 8% hikes will probably take effect Oct. 1. Higher fuel prices were blamed.

International air travelers will soon join U.S. domestic passengers in paying higher fares because of soaring fuel costs, an international airline trade group said Friday.

The world’s major airlines agreed to boost ticket prices between 5% and 8% at a three-day meeting in Geneva that ended Friday, the International Air Transport Assn. said in a statement. The higher fares, which are expected to go into effect starting Oct. 1, are subject to government approval in many countries.

The airlines also agreed to a cargo rate increase of about 7%.

Airline representatives had said they were seeking to set a common ticket price policy that would be viewed as reasonable by governments so that quick approval would be granted. Some air carriers had already announced increases before the meeting.

The cost of fuel has risen sharply since Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, and fuel generally is an air carrier’s second biggest operating cost after labor. In response, most U.S. carriers have raised their domestic fares about 5%--but those increases were delayed until this week after TWA and Eastern Airlines launched a competitive frenzy by cutting fares for a brief “fall sale” promotion. Most of those fares could not be purchased after a deadline expired Wednesday.

“This is something that we need to do to recoup some of the higher fuel costs,” said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines, the nation’s second-largest carrier. American had intended to file for the same 5.3% increase that started Thursday for its domestic fares, he said.

“Filing international fares is much more complicated” than in the United States, Smith said.

TWA spokesman Don Morrison said the air carrier had intended to file for different fare increases in various European markets--all in the 5% to 8% range--after abandoning a plan for a flat $20 one-way surcharge on international flights. Most airlines had planned similar hikes but few had announced them publicly, he said.

British Airways earlier this month announced a 6% increase starting today. “I would be surprised if we were the only one. Everyone has to buy fuel,” said spokeswoman Margaret Vodopia.

The last time the 200-member IATA imposed a fuel-related fare increase was in 1974.

Several foreign carriers have already tacked on surcharges to cover higher insurance premiums for flights originating in Europe with a destination or stopover in the Middle East.

Reuters, the international news service, reported that IATA Director-general Guenter Eser told reporters at the start of the meeting Wednesday that aviation insurance costs have jumped as much as $25,000 for each plane flying to the Gulf region.