European airlines cut thousands of flights as fuel costs rise: NPR

rising costs European airlines are being forced to cut thousands of flights during the peak summer travel season due to a jet fuel shortage as the war in Iran weighs on the entire aviation industry.

Jet fuel prices have nearly doubled since the start of the US-Israel-led war, and airlines in Europe – which import about a third of their jet fuel, mainly from the Middle East – have been particularly badly hit.

German airline Lufthansa said this week that it would 20,000 flights cut From your schedule to the fall to save jet fuel.

“This is huge,” said Rico Luman, senior economist at Amsterdam-based ING Research. European airlines are also preparing to make deep cuts to their schedules, he said. “This could be the beginning of more announcements,” Luman said in an interview. “As we continue to be locked in this conflict and face higher fuel prices like this, we will see more consequences from other airlines.”

Other European carriers including KLM And Scandinavian airlines have announced cuts to their schedules in response to rising fuel prices – though nothing has been revealed yet on the scale of the cuts at Lufthansa.

Energy experts have warned that a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway off Iran’s coast, would send jet fuel prices soaring and lead to possible fuel shortages in Europe.

“We face the greatest energy security threat in history,” Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said in an interview. cnbc on thursday. Europe typically gets a large percentage of its jet fuel imports from refineries in the Middle East, Birol said, “and it’s basically almost zero now.”

Birol had Was warned last week Europe had “probably six weeks or so” of remaining jet fuel supplies, though he said Thursday the continent was trying to replenish those supplies with imports from the US and Nigeria.

“I really hope that, first of all, the strait will be opened,” Birol said Thursday. “But we may also need to take some measures in Europe to reduce travel.”

The International Air Transport Association, which represents 360 airlines worldwide, also warned of possible fuel shortages in Europe.

IATA Director General Willie Walsh said, “As well as making every effort to secure alternative supply lines, it is vital that authorities have well-communicated and well-coordinated plans in place in the event that rationing becomes necessary.” A statement last week.

In the US, major airlines have said they will pass some of the burden of their rising fuel costs onto customers through higher fares and baggage fees. Some have also said they will reduce capacity this year. But so far, U.S. carriers have not announced major flight cuts on the scale of airlines in Europe or Asia.

Lufthansa said it would cancel short-haul flights, including unprofitable routes within Europe.

“They are canceling flights on high-frequency routes so that passengers can find an alternative to the canceled flight,” said Luman, an economist at ING Research. But he warned that European travelers should expect to have fewer options during the peak of summer holidays in July and August.

“I’m afraid there is no quick solution to this, as we have seen the damage to infrastructure in the energy sector in the Middle East,” he said. “So we expect oil prices to remain high for a long time, at least until the end of this year.”