Westjet adds fuel surcharges along with Air Canada

WestJet is following the lead of Air Canada and several American air carriers by adding fuel surcharges on all flights, starting Tuesday.

The Calgary based airline says the surcharges will boost ticket prices for short-haul flights by $20, $30 dollars for medium range flights, and $45 for long-haul flights.

WestJet Executive Vice-President, Bob Cummings says the "unrelenting and unprecedented increases in the cost of fuel over the last year" forced the airline to make the difficult decision.

Fuel surcharges introduced by Air Canada last week boosted its ticket prices by $40 for return flights of less than 480 kilometres and $80 for return flights between 480 and 1,600 kilometres.