Air France and bmi have joined the list of airlines raising ticket surcharges to win back costs imposed by record oil prices.

The moves came as oil prices reached all-time highs for the 13th time in the last 14 trading days after news that the American Petroleum Institute saw crude inventories for the week ended Aug 13 fall by 1.5 million barrels to total 292.8 million.

The French flag carrier, which introduced a €3 (£2.02) supplement in May, said that it was raising ticket prices by up to a further €12 (£8.10) per leg. Bmi said it was raising its surcharge on longhaul flights from £2.50 to £6 per leg, matching increases announced by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic last week.

BA has estimated that higher fuel prices will add £225 million to its fuel bill in the year to the end of March 2005.

Oil prices built on the record high of yesterday before falling back slightly by the close of UK markets.

Benchmark US crude passed $47 a barrel for the first time this morning as traders continued to fret over Iraqi unrest and the crisis at Yukos, Russia's largest oil company.

With the price of crude oil approaching $50 a barrel, Francois Loos, the French Trade Minister, warned of the global impact of the strong crude market.

"A lasting high oil price could weigh on the growth of world trade," M Loos told reporters, echoing comments issued by the European Central Bank last week.

Bruce Evers, the Investec analyst, said: "There are still so many potential disruptions to supply, in a very, very tight market. I think it is a matter of when and not if we reach $50 a barrel."

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