Airlines collectively canceled 23 flights at several airports across Asia, including Shanghai Pudong and Islamabad International Airport.
Reports indicate that these delays caused many problems, with passengers unable to find connecting flights and facing hours of chaos. Travel & Tour World reports that waiting areas in Shanghai and Beijing were packed and there were large queues.
It comes as Aer Lingus is expected to cancel around 500 flights due to “essential maintenance” on aircraft.
An Aer Lingus spokesperson told RSVP Live: “Aer Lingus has begun operating its planned summer schedule. A limited number of schedule adjustments, as well as mandatory maintenance on aircraft, have resulted in a number of recent cancellations.
“Where schedule adjustments are being made, the majority of customers are being readjusted to same-day services.”
Earlier this month, Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary warned that flights could be canceled this summer due to rising jet fuel costs.
He told ITV News: “We are all facing an unknown scenario. And we are certainly looking at canceling 5 per cent, 10 per cent of flights during May, June and July.”
Should passengers find out their flight was cancelled, O’Leary suggested they should ‘blame Trump’ rather than the airline.
Air Canada is also set to suspend services to New York’s JFK International Airport over the summer because of jet fuel shortages caused by the war in Iran, sending prices skyrocketing.
Canada’s national carrier announced Friday that flights from Toronto and Montreal to JFK will cease on June 1 and resume on October 25.
Routes serving the New York metropolitan area’s two remaining airports – LaGuardia and Newark – will continue to operate normally.
Air Canada confirmed it would contact affected customers to offer alternative travel arrangements.
A spokesperson for the Montreal-based carrier said, “Since jet fuel prices have doubled since the beginning of the Iran conflict and some less profitable routes and flights are no longer economical, we are making schedule adjustments accordingly.”
