Simply put, the government taxes are only collected by the respected governments if there is my butt in that seat. If I don't fly, and the airline is stating it will be keeping those taxes, that invariably changes it from a tax to a part of the fare. And since that is NOT what it was intended to be, nor advertized to be at the time of purchase, it is therefore fraudulent to keep the taxes. In addition, fuel surcharges are advertized as a surcharge to cover the cost of higher fuel costs. In the EU, they are NOT yet required to be listed as part of the fare, but instead separately, unlike in the US. Therefore, I argue that if I do not travel, no fuel was used by me. Therefore, the fuel surcharge must also be returned to me if I do not fly as it was advertized to be a surcharge to offset the cost of fuel. If I don't use the fuel and this surcharge is NOT under the fare, then it must be returned.