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Lufthansa has reduced its fuel surcharge for long-haul flights from 62 to 52 â?¬ per sector. The airline says the move is â??’in response to the sustained drop in crude oil prices over the past several weeks’â?. The change takes effect from October 16. The surcharge for German domestic and intra-European flights will remain unchanged at twelve euros per sector.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines says it is dropping its surcharge from US$60 to US$54 per sector for flights booked after October 14.

The airline said: â??’In recent weeks, the price of jet fuel has dropped, although the price is still substantially higher than when the decision to impose surcharges was first made. Collections from the fuel surcharges have only ever given partial relief from the cost increase as a result of the high price of jet fuel.’â?

Air France has also reduced its surcharge. Because oil has stayed below $65 a barrel for 30 consecutive days, it is rolling back its most recent surcharge increase. The surcharges are now 16 â?¬ per flight on its domestic and European network, 46 â?¬ on long haul flights between France and US and 49 â?¬ per flight to other destinations.
fuente: Times Online

Lufthansa, Europe’s No. 2 airline, plans to order 35 aircraft valued at as much as $3.12 billion from Airbus, expanding the fleet to meet growing competition. The carrier plans a second purchase later this year.

The airline will buy five A319 models, 10 A320s and 15 A321s for short-haul services and five A330-300s for long-distance routes, with deliveries starting next year, Cologne, Germany-based Lufthansa said in a statement Wednesday. The carrier also plans to take an option for 30 additional A320-series aircraft and is still in talks about a long-haul plane order.

Lufthansa added routes and cut prices in Europe this year to counter low-cost carriers such as Dublin, Ireland-based Ryanair. The German airline has bought rivals and arranged routes to encourage connecting traffic through three hubs in central Europe, even as competitor Air France-KLM Group grows faster and wins trans-Atlantic market share.

source: Seattlepi.com