Airlines Get OK to Raise Global Fares

The Transportation Department gave the go-ahead Monday for airlines to charge 7% more for most international flights, beginning next week, to cover skyrocketing fuel costs.

On some flights, increases will be as high as 10%.

The department also said airlines could apply for permission to charge a war-risk surcharge to meet rising costs of insurance in the wake of the vast military buildup in the Gulf.

The price increases, which will take effect Oct. 1, will last six months. They follow two increases in domestic fares since the Persian Gulf crisis started.

Most other countries already have approved the increases, and the United States agreed that the across-the-board jumps represented no obstacle to fair competition. Since Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait, the cost of a barrel of oil has almost doubled, edging toward $39 a barrel.