Saturday October 1, 6:47 AM Australia's Qantas-demand steady despite surcharges NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Qantas Airways Ltd. , the world's ninth-biggest airline by market value, said on Friday that fuel surcharges had not affected customer demand.
"We haven't seen any dampening of demand from fuel surcharges we have put on internationally or that we have put on domestically," Chief Executive Geoff Dixon told the Merrill Lynch Australian investment conference in New York.
Airlines have increased surcharges on tickets as the cost of fuel has risen sharply.
Macquarie Airports Group which has interests in airports in Sydney, Brussels, Rome, Birmingham, Bristol and Copenhagen also said it had not seen any significant impact from fuel surcharges.
"We have not yet discerned a sustained softening of demand," Macquarie Airports chief Executive Officer Kerrie Mather told the conference.
Mather said that in Europe strong traffic growth continued to be generated by low-cost airlines.
The company is on the hunt for more airport stakes as governments privatise airports.
"We are very optimistic about the outlook for the remainder of 2005 and beyond, based on the significant number of initiatives we have got happening across the portfolio and also in terms of the acquisition pipeline," she said.
Macquarie Airports Group is managed by Australia's largest investment bank, Macquarie Bank Ltd.
Qantas shares last closed at A$3.37 while Macquarie Airports shares closed at A$3.28.
($1=A$1.32)
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