The Federal Court ordered Qantas Airlines on Tuesday to pay commission years to travel agents after it was found out that fuel surcharge to passengers is part of the fare and not a tax.

Qantas Airlines is expected to pay at about $10 million.

The court supported the appeal made by Leonie's Travel, which forces the airlines to include fuel charge for computing commissions as payment to agents.

The Federal Court will also set aside some rulings in favor of Qantas and is set to return to its original judge to ascertain how much Qantas owes the agents.

When fuel prices rose in 2004, Qantas introduced the charge on all passengers, and later dropped the charge to its domestic flights. However, charges on international flights remained unchanged.

Steven Lewis, a lawyer representing travel agents told media that the airlines should now settle the debts they owe.

"The time has now come for the airlines, which have been using the fuel surcharge to bolster the bottom line since it was introduced in 2004, to stop fighting the travel agents and resolve this major problem,'' the lawyer explained.

Mr. Lewis also added that Qantas will be paying commissions on fuel surcharges up to 2007, totaling up to $26 million or more.

A representative of Qantas expressed their disappoint on the court's judgment and will determine its next few steps after the verdict.

Aside from Qantas, travel agents are also suing Air New Zealand, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines.