Oil Price Relief for Oz Carriers?

[NickN]

My whole working career has been primarily in the finance and investment area and I have been closely monitoring the global financial crisis.

The price of oil has dropped considerably over the past few months on fears that the demand for oil will weaken considerably on the back of the financial woes around the world. Last night trade ended around US$87 a barrel as opposed to a few months back when we saw prices up around US$145 a barrel.

This would be great news..... if the bottom hadn't fallen out of the Aussie dollar which closed yesterday at a dismal 67c up against the US dollar.

My question is, will Aussie airlines be excited at this drop in Oil price, or are they really just in the same position as the weak dollar has offset the drop in the price of Oil.

I have no idea how they hedge/buy their fuel and in what currency etc. I do some work now and again for a South African company who holds accounts in both US currency and also in Euros and they use those currencies to buy stock overseas. Right now their US currency is flying high obviously. Do airlines have a similar set up?