Virgin follows suit with fare increase

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Virgin Australia will raise fares across its network and increase fuel surcharges on international flights, blaming a weaker Australian dollar for making jet fuel more expensive.

A week after Qantas increased fuel surcharges and base fares, Australia’s second-largest airline will follow suit by increasing the base fares on domestic flights by an average of 3 per cent.

Virgin will also increase the base fares by $25 on a one-way economy ticket to the US, Europe and the Middle East.

Tickets for a one-way long-haul international flight will rise by $35 for premium economy seat.

The airline will raise the fare for a business seat for a flight to the US by $50, and by $65 for a service to Europe and the Middle East.

It will also increase by 3 per cent the cost of a fare across most of its short-haul international network, which includes New Zealand and Thailand.

Virgin said its fuel costs had risen by 13 per cent over the past two months due to a weaker Australian dollar and a recent increase in crude oil prices.

The airline’s chief commercial officer, Judith Crompton, said it had been unable to recover previous increases in fuel costs and ‘‘is now facing higher fuel costs primarily due to the fall in the value of the Australian dollar’’.

The fare increases will apply to tickets sold from August 22.