Planes fly slowly to save costs
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Virgin Blue was also quoted considering slowing down its planes during descent as a way to cut fuel use. Jetstar has been flying more slowly since last month, adding six minutes to the length of flights from the east coast to Perth and two minutes on to flights from Sydney to either Brisbane or Melbourne, the paper said.
According to the report, a Qantas spokesman, which owns Jetstar, confirmed that its own planes had also been using “variable speed” as a “fuel conservation initiative” and said the airline had been doing this for the past two years.
Oil prices hit a record US$133 a barrel yesterday, placing further pressure on airline fuel costs and profits. The rising cost of jet fuel has once again prompted Qantas to increase the price of its airfares. The carrier said its international airfares would rise by about 4% and domestic fares by about 3% for tickets issued in Australia from June 4.
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