Thought this worthy of sharing:

TORONTO, Dec. 12 /CNW/ - While soaring fuel costs continue to put
pressure on air ticket prices, competition between air carriers to maintain
and acquire business is keeping price increases to a moderate level according
to the recent BTI Canada Benchmarking Study. "In efforts to recoup expanding operational costs, air carriers are increasing existing fuel surcharges, but, increases were minimal. We do, however, expect to see further increases in the second half of 2005," says Michele Ferrari, Senior Vice President, Client Management, BTI Canada. Meanwhile, Corporate Canada's air travel activity is strong. The total number of airline tickets sold for the current review period, January to June 2005, rose significantly by 24 per cent.
Unique to the Canadian market, the BTI Canada Benchmarking Study is a
semi-annual report that measures corporate travel activity booked by BTI
Canada. The study identifies and analyzes key Canadian business travel
industry trends.
Continued fuel price hikes are expected to put further pressure on
airline tickets in 2005-2006. From January to June 2005, the average airline
ticket rose slightly to $973, a $20 increase from the previous period.
Specifically, Domestic tickets saw an increase of five per cent, International
prices inflated by two per cent, while in contrast, Transborder average ticket
prices dropped marginally.
The increase in domestic ticket prices is also attributed to the closure
of Jetsgo as it allowed Air Canada and Westjet to adjust their ticket prices
that were previously depressed due to a series of fare wars incited by the
airline. The increases, however, were minimal as the airlines compete
head-to-head on many routes and are still feeling price pressures from Canjet
in selective markets.
Despite record fuel prices and continued financial challenges faced by
most American carriers, significant competition from low cost carriers helped
to push the Intra US average ticket price for BTI Canada's clients down by
nine per cent, or $56. In February 2005, Delta Air Lines made headlines when
it announced an aggressive new fare strategy that would reduce airfares by as much as 50 per cent for Intra-US travel. Other players in the competitive US domestic market quickly responded with their own pricing reform. Faced with the harsh reality of expanding operational costs, the same carriers that
participated in the price reform would successfully rally for industry-wide
fare hikes of $10 to $20 over seven times in the past six months and we expect further fare and/or fuel surcharge increases.
"In order to control air spend, it is important now more than ever to
negotiate and support corporate deals with preferred carriers," Ferrari
explains. "BTI Canada encourages companies to work closely with their travel
management company to assess their travel booking needs and patterns and
ensure they have a carefully planned travel policy that reflects their
business requirements and objectives. This in turn will result in maximum
return on their overall travel expenditure."

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../12/c5671.html