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MONTREAL - The cost of air travel for many Canadians surged Friday after Air Canada quietly imposed domestic fuel charges for the first time in four years that could, for example, add an extra $120 for a round-trip ticket across the country.

The price increases, imposed Friday, would add $120 a round-trip for flights of more than 1,001 miles, or 1,601.6 kilometres, each way. Smaller surcharges would be slapped on tickets for shorter trips.

For example, people flying from Halifax, Montreal and Toronto to Calgary, Edmonton, Regina or Vancouver would pay the highest surcharges as the country's largest airline tries to recoup soaring costs for jet fuel.

Air Canada applied the surcharge to transborder flights to the United States on Thursday, matching similar moves by the big American carriers. It added the surcharge to domestic trips on Friday.

The new surcharges are $40 return for flights of less than 480 kilometres, $80 return on flights between 480 kilometres and 1,600 kilometres and $120 for longer flights.

The fuel surcharges are effective immediately on all flights booked, the airline says.

They weren't announced and could only be found in the fine print on the company's website.

"The cost of everything is going up," Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur said in an interview.

"The fares have been very, very volatile and there have been previous increases we didn't announce every time."

The airline plans to upgrade its website as soon as possible to clearly indicate surcharges, including fuel.

On Thursday, the three biggest U.S. air carriers, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, raised fares to improve their finances.

With the price of oil soaring to record highs, Air Canada decided for the first time in four years to no longer include fuel costs in base fares.

International tickets already have fuel surcharges, but those rates are adjusted case by case.

It wasn't immediately clear whether other Canadian carriers will apply similar surcharges.

Calgary-based WestJet Airlines, the No. 2 scheduled airline, and Porter Airlines, which flies from the Toronto Island Airport to domestic and U.S. cities, are studying the move.