Cuts or surcharges? How Europe’s airlines are tackling the fuel crisis
Virgin Atlantic has become the first UK carrier to add a fuel surcharge to its tickets - TRISTAR PHOTOS/Alamy Stock Photo
Virgin Atlantic has increased some of its air fares by £360. Ryanair is preparing to cancel 5 per cent of its schedule. Wizz has axed a number of routes. One European airline is even demanding a surcharge from existing customers. What was once hypothetical is now happening: the Middle East crisis is hitting our holidays.
In the early days of the Middle East conflict, Gulf airlines like Emirates and Etihad were grounded as missiles and drones struck airport runways. Long-haul routes were the worst hit and Asian airlines were among the first to increase ticket prices.
With the Strait of Hormuz closed for six weeks and European airlines heavily reliant on jet fuel from the region, EU and UK airline bosses have been forced to take action. Looking further ahead, there are fears that some European airports could even run out of fuel as soon as the first May bank holiday.
Let’s take a look at how Britain’s favourite airlines have responded to the crisis, and what may come next.
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic is the first UK carrier to add a fuel surcharge to its tickets: £50 for economy class tickets, £180 for premium economy and £360 for business class. The airline has so far resisted making dramatic changes to its network, but Virgin’s CEO has also refused to rule out cutting routes if the fuel crisis endures.
Ryanair
Ryanair’s fuel reserves are well hedged, and as a result, the Irish carrier has not yet cancelled any flights. However, CEO Michael O’Leary says that if the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen soon, ticket prices could be “significantly higher” through May and June. He says the airline may have to cut 5 per cent of its flights, and that the cuts will depend on which airports are suffering the worst jet fuel shortages.
British Airways
There will be no BA flights into Dubai, Doha, Tel Aviv or Abu Dhabi until later in the year at the earliest. The flag carrier has also scrapped its Jeddah route from April 24. British Airways has locked in the price of 75 per cent of its jet fuel in the short term, but this only offers temporary protection. If the war continues, passengers could begin seeing higher fares.
There are fears that some European airports could run out of fuel by the first May bank holiday - Jacob Wackerhausen/iStockphoto
easyJet
The low-cost airline has seen demand shift away from Turkey and Cyprus, with a spike in bookings to destinations further away from the conflict zone, including the Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal. There have been no network cuts so far, but easyJet has not ruled out reducing the frequency of flights to destinations served by multiple flights. CEO Kenton Jarvis has also warned that ticket prices could go up, as hedging levels drop from 84 per cent to 62 per cent in the second half of the year.
Wizz Air
With operations focused on central-eastern Europe and routes to the Middle East, Wizz is more exposed to geopolitical shocks than other low-cost airlines. The airline has suspended multiple routes to the Middle East until September, and has pushed back the resumption of its Israel route until early May. Wizz has estimated that the crisis could cost it as much as €58m (£51m).
Jet2
Jet2 has locked in lower fuel prices, with 75 per cent hedged until March 2027. The result is that the airline has neither cut any routes nor put up ticket prices since the beginning of the Middle East conflict. Like other low-cost carriers, Jet2 has reported a shift from Turkey, Egypt and Cyprus to western Mediterranean resorts.
Further disruption across Europe
Spanish low-cost airline Volotea faced a backlash after taking the unconventional approach of asking passengers to pay a surcharge on tickets they had already bought. In what is described as a “fair travel promise”, the airline says it may charge a maximum of €9 (£7.80) per passenger, seven days prior to departure, depending on fuel prices.
Spanish low-cost airline Volotea has asked passengers to pay a surcharge on tickets - Bruno Coelho / Alamy Stock Photo
The cancellations have begun, too. Scandinavian airline SAS said in mid-March that it would cancel 1,000 flights throughout April. The airline has also temporarily increased ticket prices due to the ongoing Middle East crisis.
German carrier Lufthansa has also announced plans to shut down its regional airline, saying its CityLine division, which provides business flights between European airports, will ground its entire fleet of 27 aircraft. It will also cut six planes from its international fleet after the summer holiday season, warning that the cutbacks could last into winter. KLM, meanwhile, has cancelled 160 flights for the coming month, but said it will affect less than 1 per cent of its schedule.
Perhaps the biggest concern for UK holidaymakers is the suggestion that airports could run dry by the May half-term holiday. In a letter to the EU’s transport commissioner, ACI Europe – a lobby group for airports on the continent – said: “If the passage through the Strait of Hormuz does not resume in any significant and stable way within the next three weeks, systemic jet fuel shortage is set to become a reality.”
With the aviation crisis beginning to materialise, our holiday plans are now out of our hands. In the best-case scenario, normality will resume and your holiday will go ahead as planned. In the worst-case scenario, we will face cancelled flights, higher ticket prices, and the quite unfathomable prospect of European airports’ jet fuel reserves running dry by late summer.
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