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Canada's Marine Atlantic Inc. has dropped its fuel surcharge on travel reservations made after April 1st 2009.

The Newfoundland-based entity, which provides a constitutionally mandated passenger and commercial marine transportation system between the Island of Newfoundland and the Province of Nova Scotia, said that the decision was made after a quarterly review.

"We have completed our quarterly review of fuel costs and determined that no fuel surcharge will be applied to new reservations beginning on April 1," said Marine Atlantic president and CEO Wayne Follett.

"Traditionally, April until June represents the busiest period for booking of reservations for the upcoming summer period. We are pleased to provide our customers with this decrease in cost for travel this summer."

Fuel costs will be reviewed again in June 2009 to determine whether a fuel surcharge is required for the quarter beginning on July 1, 2009, Marine Atlantic said.

Last year the fuel surcharge skyrocketed from 9.9 per cent to 27.7 per cent in July 2008, drawing an outcry from the provincial government. The then Minister of Transportation and Works, Dianne Whalen said the cost to passengers was "an affront to the expectations the people of the province have of the Trans Gulf ferry service as laid out in the Terms of Union."

[Pictured: Marine Atlantic's MV Caribou Passenger Vessel]