Cathay to slash fuel surcharge.

It had received approval from the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (CAD) to add US$5.3 to one-way short-haul tickets and US$15 to long-haul journeys per passenger from Feb. 1 to Mar. 31 to help cover the cost of rising fuel prices, it said in a statement.
The revised levels are more than 40 percent less than the existing US$9.20 and US$27 fuel surcharges, which are set to expire on Jan. 31.
The government said that oil price has dropped from its peak of around US$56 pre barrel in October but is still higher than the level of about US$42 per barrel in May 2004 when Cathay first submitted an application to levy a passenger surcharge.
"The CAD has granted a two-month approval so that the situation can be reviewed within a shorter timeframe," it said.
It said a total of 43 airlines have approval to add US$3.9 to US$29 fuel surcharges per passenger for every trip up to Jan. 31. Apart from Cathay, 11 airlines have submitted applications to extend the fuel surcharges.
Jet fuel accounts for a large proportion of airline costs and Cathay had said that the surcharge would not able to offset the higher fuel cost, not even half of it.