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Wednesday December 29, 12:04 pm Eastern Time

United Airline imposes fuel surcharge on cargo

CHICAGO, Dec 29 (Reuters) - United Airlines, the world's largest airline, said Wednesday that it was adding a fuel surcharge to the cost of shipping freight, joining other carriers that have added such a charge to mitigate high fuel prices.

United will add 5 cents per pound to the cost of domestic shipments and 10 cents per kilogram for international service, Joe Hopkins, a spokesman for United, a unit of UAL Corp. (NYSE:UAL - news), said in an interview. The surcharge is effective immediately, he said.

United's small package service will not be affected by the surcharges.

Package carrier Federal Express, a unit of Memphis, Tenn.-based FDX Corp. (NYSE:FDX - news), has not instituted a surcharge, a spokesman said.

``We're certainly aware of the other airlines decisions and other transportation companies,'' spokesman Greg Rossiter said. FDX officials said earlier this month that they were considering a surcharge due to rising fuel costs.

On Tuesday, AMR Corp.'s (NYSE:AMR - news) American Airlines said that it would implement a fuel surcharge effective Feb. 1.

Several other cargo carriers, including Lufthansa and Northwest Airlines Corp.(NasdaqNM:NWAC - news), have also announced surcharges in recent days.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), December 29, 1999