QF/JQ/DJ all remove Fuel Surcharge

QF/JQ follows Virgin and cuts alltogether

News.com.au
QANTAS will remove its domestic fuel surcharges from New Year's day, after reducing them several times this year.
The carrier said the $18 per sector fuel surcharge would be axed for tickets issued on or after Thursday, January 1, bringing welcome relief to consumer pockets.
Executive general manager John Borghetti said the surcharge would be removed for all Qantas domestic and QantasLink bookings.
The cull in fuel surcharge is set to be embraced by the $90 billion domestic travel industry, which today expressed fears for its 2009 season.

As consumers continue to tighten their belts, Tourism Australia is predicting a horror 2009 year, with inbound tourism expected to drop by almost 4 per cent.
Qantas last week announced that it had reduced its international and domestic fuel surcharges for the third time in recent months because of falling oil prices.
But Mr Borghetti said international surcharges would not be axed due to its higher fuel costs associated with its overseas operations.
Last week's international fuel surcharge reduction had made some flights a little more affordable.

The fuel surcharge for a one-way ticket from Australia to the United Kingdom and Europe has been cut by $30 to $160.

The surcharge was for one-way flights to the Americas, South Africa and India fell by $20 to $130.
Qantas shares closed 4 cents lower at $2.52.
Despite recent falls in the oil price, the airline's fuel costs were still greater than when surcharges were first introduced in May 2004, he said.
Qantas maintains that the group's fuel bill this financial year would still be $400 million higher than in 2007/08.
"Fuel remains a major cost to our business and, even with surcharges, we have absorbed significant amounts of the additional record fuel costs incurred in recent years,'' he said.
"Prices remain volatile.
"Oil was trading as low as $US32.40 ($47.14) on December 19, but today back up to $US40 a barrel, an increase of more than 20 per cent.''
Mr Borghetti said jet fuel refining margins paid by airlines were also higher, about $US17 now compared to about $US5.40 in May 2004.

DJSITE
After a further and consistent decline in global oil prices over recent months, Virgin Blue today announced it would drop altogether fuel surcharges on Virgin Blue domestic services and would again reduce fuel surcharges Pacific Blue trans-Tasman and Pacific Island flights – which is the second reduction in as many months.
The last time Virgin Blue increased its fuel surcharge was back in February 2008 in response to successive record hikes in the cost of jet fuel and the airline resisted further fuel surcharge increases when oil reached record peaks of USD$145.00 per barrel in July this year.
Effective 31 December, in the Australian domestic market Virgin Blue will eliminate its fuel surcharge from $19.00 for a one-way domestic flight to zero ($0.00). For Pacific Blue and Polynesian Blue one-way international flights, the fuel surcharge will be cut by $10 to $25 (down from $35).
Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, said: “Just last month we cut our fuel surcharges by 20% to $19.00 for a one-way domestic flight and $35.00 for Pacific Blue and Polynesian Blue one-way international flights; and now we are removing them altogether on Australian domestic routes and cutting them again on our international sectors as a reaffirmation of our commitment to ‘keeping the air fair’. When we launched Virgin Blue eight years ago that was our catch cry – ‘keeping the air fare’ – and it represented our commitment to bringing sustainably low air fares to the Australian domestic aviation market; and it is a historical fact that average fares have been kept much lower ever since.”
“We are reluctant to increase the cost of air travel but those record high jet fuel prices this year forced us – along with airlines around the world - to introduce a levy to cover those costs. We base our decisions on fuel surcharges on a floating average - not the spot price – and now that we have seen a consistent reduction in that it is only fair and right to pass those savings onto our Guests,” Mr Godfrey added.