Virgin Australia hike domestic airfares due to carbon scheme

Virgin Australia recently announced that it is raising airfares on its domestic routes by up to $6 per flight because of the implementation of carbon pricing scheme by the Federal Government.

The move of the airline follows after other Australian carriers Qantas and Jetstar raised airfares earlier last month due to the Federal Government’s pricing scheme.

Virgin Australia in a statement said that a $1.50 surcharge would be applied for flights of less than 900 km from March 1, 2012. Besides, the airline has also raised $3 for flights between 901-2000 km and $6 for sectors longer than 2000 km.

The airline further said that a $3 surcharge would also be added on all its codeshare flights to countries within the European Union effective March 1.

Virgin Australia has taken this decision to raise airfares on its domestic routes despite earning a profit of $51.8 million, a hefty 118 percent as compared to the previous corresponding period.