Qantas said on 19 October it would reduce its international fuel surcharges for tickets issued on or after Tuesday, 24 October 2006.

The Chief Executive Officer of Qantas, Mr Geoff Dixon, said the new one-way fuel surcharges would be (all based on flights from Australia): $185 to $170 (to UK & Europe); $145 to $130 (to Mainland USA, Canada, South America, South Africa and India); $115 to $105 (to Asia, Pacific and Honolulu); $65 to $60 (to New Zealand) 

"When Qantas was forced to address the issue of high fuel costs in May 2004, we chose to add a surcharge rather than increase the cost of fares so that we could reduce or remove the additional charge if fuel prices dropped," Mr Dixon said.

"This is the first time since then that we have seen a decrease in the price of fuel over a sustained period, and we will monitor the situation closely over the coming weeks.

"If prices continue to fall, we will extend the reductions to our domestic surcharges, which were not included in the most recent increase in August 2006, and look at further reductions to our international surcharges," he said.

Mr Dixon said that despite the recent drop in the price of oil, fuel costs remained a major issue for airlines.

"Qantas still faces a significant shortfall compared to last year in terms of recovering fuel cost increases, even after hedging and surcharges." (Australian dollar is the currency used in this report)