The pressure is starting to build. According to an
article in the Sydney Morning Herald, Virgin Australia eliminates all fuel surcharges:
After months of criticism from consumer groups about airlines refusing to cut fuel surcharges despite a halving in oil prices since October, Virgin on Wednesday announced that it would restructure its fares for flights to the US, which would result in it incorporating fuel costs into the base fare.
Virgin previously increased fuel surcharges on flights to the US in August last year. It is the only route on which it imposes the fee.
The surcharges are mostly an expensive irritant for Qantas frequent flyer holders because they cannot use their points to pay for the surcharge. Unlike Qantas, Virgin has allowed passengers to use frequent-flyer points to pay for the fuel fee.
Travel agents have also long complained about a number of airlines' fuel fees, because they often don't earn a commission on the surcharge component of the total fare.
If you wonder what led to this decision:
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has also set up a team to investigate passenger surcharges.
What's the UK equivalent of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission doing?