The German Business Travel Association reiterates its call for the adjustment of fuel surcharges due to a massive drop in oil prices. In October, the Association informed about possible unfair practices of airlines that keep their fuel surcharges high in spite of oil prices going down.
At that time the airlines argued that the oil prices affect surcharges with some delay since the airlines purchased the fuel long time in advance. However, after two months there are still no changes of the ticket prices – despite the rising passenger numbers and massive drop in oil prices.
The Airports Association reported monthly passenger increases of around 3 percent since the end of June. The price of crude oil decreased from around 113 dollars to around 60 dollars per barrel today which is a drop by almost 50 percent. When the crude oil prices increased in the past, the impact on ticket prices was seen much faster.
Now the airlines state that the ongoing contracts and generally increased costs prevent any price adjustment. Ralph Rettig, the Vice-President of the Association of German Travel Management, is angry: "We provided the airlines enough time. However, the prices remained the same. These are hidden and unjustified price increases in the end. We therefore call for a reduction in the fuel surcharge. The reduced cost has to be passed directly to the customer!"