EasyJet has pledged that it will not impose fuel surcharges on its tickets, despite industry predictions that soaring oil costs are bound to affect the prices of flights and holidays.
As reported by News From Abroad yesterday, both British Airways and Qantas announced that they will apply fuel surcharges to flights as from this week, with other carriers refusing to rule out a similar move.
However, EasyJet yesterday promised it would not do the same. Chief executive Ray Webster said: “The decision to raise fares will be disastrously counter-productive for British Airways. Rather than taking steps to plug the hole in their cost base, higher fares will result in fewer people travelling, lower load factors and less revenue.
“If they want to fill their aircraft, BA should get the prices right. If they can’t make money they should reduce capacity.”
However, the Daily Mail quotes an “industry source” as saying: “Where BA leads, others follow. You can’t run away from rising fuel costs.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
