Virgin follows bmi and BA in reducing fuel surcharges

Citing the sustained decline in the price of oil, Virgin Atlantic has announced reductions in the fuel surcharges instituted earlier in the year.

The carrier follows a move by British Airways to reduce fuel surcharges on all flights.

Passengers will save as much as £60 on an economy return ticket on long-haul flights.

Virgin said that the reductions are a result of the price oil having dropped from a high of $147 per barrel in July to $47 this past week.

The airline’s announcement follows that of BA earlier on Wednesday that it would lower its fuel surcharges on domestic, European and long-haul services.

Economy-class passengers traveling on Virgin Atlantic will now pay £15 less on services of less than nine hours’ duration and £30 less on long-haul service of nine hours or more.

Passengers traveling in premium economy will see a reduction of £20 on the medium-haul routes and of £29.50 less on longer-haul flights. First class, or upper class, passengers will see savings of £20 and £35, respectively.

In October, both BA and Virgin announced reductions in fuel surcharges as well – on the same day.

Just prior to the announcements by BA and Virgin, bmi said that it would remove short-haul surcharges completely, and a number of cruise lines, including Carnival, Crystal, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, have also scrapped their fuel surcharges.

www.virgin-atlantic.com