I contacted *A through their web site to ask why there was such a difference in fares between the UK and the rest of Europe. I received this reply from a company call Brierley & Partners. Looking at their website they would appear to be a PR organisation.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Thank you for your query. The factors that drive airline pricing are varied - and change by market (as evidenced by your research). Some of the reasons include:
* Demand for business travel out of the UK
* Costs and overheads for airlines operating in the UK, and in particular,out of major airports like London Heathrow
* The supply of premium scheduled services out of the UK to major origin points - as compared to other European points
These drivers, plus others, combine to set the prices out of the UK market.
Regards
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This IMHO is typical PR bull. Being far from satisfied by the response I have now raised this with The Office of Fair Trading (UK Government department who look at this type of thing). I have had several discussions with them on the subject and have supplied details of my research. I should know if a few weeks whether they will take the complaint further.
If anyone else in the UK would care to add weight to my complaint the OFT can be emailed on
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>