Virgin Australia raises carbon surcharges in Australia, to Europe

Virgin Australia is raising prices in response to Australian and European carbon pricing schemes, with domestic flights and connecting Etihad EU services affected. 

Domestically, the biggest one-way hike is $6 for flights over 2000 km. You'll pay $3 on a one-way flight of 901-2000 km, and $1.50 each way for flights 900 km or shorter.

The new surcharges will take effect for flights after 1 July that are booked after 1 March.

Virgin's European codeshare flights with Etihad will also see a surcharge: $3 each way for connecting flights from Abu Dhabi to EU destinations Athens, Brussels, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Munich and Paris.

While a Virgin Australia statement is quick to point out that "these surcharges are consistent with the initial modelling Virgin Australia announced in July 2011, estimating that the average increase per sector would be AUD$3.00," the carrier in a footnote under the EU carbon price that "as carbon prices fluctuate, this cost may need to be adjusted from time to time."

Qantas and Jetstar announced their own carbon pricing surcharges -- and fuel-related price hikes -- earlier this month.

How will the changes affect your travel, if at all? What do you think about the new charges, or about airline fuel/carbon surcharges in general? Share your thoughts with other AusBT readers in the comments section below, or join the conversation on Twitter: we're @AusBT.

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.