AIR BERLIN PLC "Airlines have justified price increases with high fuel costs for a long time. If kerosene prices decline, that should be passed on to customers," he told Reuters.
Many airlines introduced and steadily increased fuel surcharges they charge their customers to pay as oil prices rose over the last decade. Oil prices have dropped by more than a quarter to around $75 a barrel since June, though.
Airlines in Europe argue that the decline's effect on their costs is limited by the euro's weakening against the dollar and will come only with a substantial delay because most of them hedge their exposure to volatile fuel prices at least 12 months in advance.
Also, airlines say that how much they can charge their price-sensitive customers, including surcharges, is determined by demand and supply in a fiercely competitive environment rather than by how high their costs are.
"Tough competition among airlines means that customers are offered the best possible ticket prices," industry group BDL, which represents German airlines like Lufthansa (>> Deutsche Lufthansa AG) and Air Berlin (>> Air Berlin Plc), said in a statement, adding that fares had already declined this year.
At the Lufthansa group, yields - a measure of pricing - declined by 3.6 percent in the first nine months of 2014, while fuel costs eased by only 0.5 percent.
Billen said he expected that competition would eventually ensure that consumers benefit from declining fuel costs. Germany's economy ministry also said it was up to companies to determine fuel surcharges.
(Reporting by Rene Wagner and Maria Sheahan; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
