Fuel charges drop on Europe flights
As oil prices fall, both U.S. and foreign airlines are cutting fuel surcharges on most flights to Europe, a move that will save fliers $50 on flights to Paris, Rome and Madrid, and more than $60 on flights to London.
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Getting to Florence will be a bit cheaper as airlines cut…
Tom Parsons, chief executive of the discount travel site Bestfares.com, has been tracking the surcharges since October 2007. He says the fuel fee from San Francisco and other West Coast cities to the majority of European cities has dropped from $330 round trip to $280 round trip, about 18 percent. London fuel surcharges that were at $428 round trip from the West Coast have dropped to $366 round trip, about 17 percent.
“The only cities we have not seen a drop in fuel surcharges to London are from select East Coast cities, such as Boston, New York City or Washington,” where the fuel surcharge still remains at $302 round trip, Parsons said.
The only major European destinations with flights not cutting their fuel surcharges were Frankfurt, Munich and other German cities; they are maintaining their full fuel fees, which are $210 for round-trip flights.
Combined with the dollar’s rise against the euro, “Europe is starting to look like a bargain compared to those who visited in summer 2008,” Parsons said.
– John Flinn