Fuel woes force $10 Qantas rise

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Fuel woes force $10 Qantas rise

By Nick O'Malley

Qantas announced last night it would introduce a $10 fuel surcharge on all domestic flights from this weekend.

In a statement yesterday a Qantas official, Mr Denis Adams, said the price increase was in response to rising fuel costs and the low value of the Australian dollar.

"It's a reality that the costs of running an airline in these circumstances have increased," he said.

Mr Adams said last night the rises would also apply to jet services operated by Qantas's regional airlines.

He said the price increase was not included in the general ticket cost to make it clear to customers that the charge was not indefinite and was directly related to current operating conditions.

Mr Dennis said he did not think higher ticket costs would affect customers who were travelling for Christmas, or Qantas's domestic market share.

A spokeswoman for Qantas's main domestic competitor, Ansett, said last night the airline was "assessing the situation".

She said high fuel costs and the exchange rate would be significant factors in such an assessment.

Both the major domestic airlines are under pressure to retain market share with the emergence of two new competitors, Virgin Blue and Impulse.

On Monday the Herald reported that both new entrants were operating with returns above expectations.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0011/28/national/national15.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 27, 2000


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