LIAT announced on Saturday, December 20th, that it will further be reducing its fuel surcharges. The further reduction of US $7.00 per one-way journey will return the airline’s fuel surcharges to Easter 2008 levels – before aviation fuel prices rapidly increased during the summer.{{more}}

The Airline said the anticipated reduction has been made possible by the substantial drop in world oil prices that now appear to have settled below US$50/barrel.

Mark Darby, CEO of LIAT, commented: “At the time we had increased the fuel surcharge, we made a commitment to reduce it as soon as oil prices declined. It appears that prices have stabilized – but all projections indicate that we can anticipate increases in the not too distant future as OPEC seeks to manage oil output and increase prices. We constantly monitor our fuel costs and will seek to reflect changes in any surcharges going forward.”

Darby added: “Our customers have understood the need for us to vary our prices because of the fluctuations in oil prices, but we are anxious to keep the cost of air travel down; and so, we are making this announcement now, as it appears that there is some stability in world oil prices.”

It should be noted that the reductions in surcharges will take effect from January 5th, 2009, but are subject to regulatory approval, which LIAT anticipates receiving by January.