Qantas has announced that it will again increase domestic, regional and Tasman air fares in “response to high oil and jet fuel prices”.
The airline will increase fares by up to $10 per sector on domestic and regional flights for tickets issued on or after March 31. Increases of up to eight per cent will also apply to trans-Tasman fares.
“The increasing price of fuel is a major concern for the Qantas Group and the global aviation industry,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said.
“Airlines have a range of options available to them to manage this significant cost, and Qantas is among the best in terms of using mechanisms such as hedging and fuel conservation.
“However, the situation today is very different to the last fuel crisis, when the global economy was strong. This time, the world is still emerging from the global economic crisis, and demand is still recovering.”
Joyce stressed that jet fuel prices had risen a further 15 per cent to more than US$134 per barrel since Qantas announced international fuel surcharge and domestic ticket price increases last month
“Even with favourable hedging in place, it is still at a much higher price than we can absorb. In spite of this hedging offset, fuel surcharges and fare increases, we will not be recovering the full impact of current and forecast fuel prices,” he noted.
“Our ongoing response to this situation remains under review and we also cannot rule out further increases in surcharges and fares in the future.”
Yesterday Virgin Blue announced it was likely to make a $30-80 million loss for the current financial year, in part due to rising fuel prices.
