The German airline Lufthansa Group said April 21 it would cut 20,000 flights over the next six months to save 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, as airlines and other businesses across the globe face fuel shortages and rapid price rises because of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
The New York Times says airlines across Europe have warned that the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz would lead to fuel shortages and severe disruptions. Lufthansa said only that it had “jet fuel supply secured for the coming weeks.”
On April 19, Air Canada announced it would temporarily suspend all flights from Toronto and Montreal to New York’s John F Kennedy airport, from June 1 to October 25, citing rising fuel prices. The Canadian airline also announced temporary suspensions to a Salt Lake City-Toronto route, which will be halted June 30, with plans to resume in 2027, as well as a delay to the launch of a service from Guadalajara, Mexico, to Montreal.
Meanwhile, on April 17, Spirit Airlines asked the U.S. federal government for hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency funding to offset the surge in fuel costs, according to the Air Current industry website, citing unnamed sources.
Europe accounts for about 41% of the jet fuel exported out of the Persian Gulf region, according to Macquarie Group, a financial services firm. Global prices of jet fuel have risen more than 70% since the start the war at the end of February, according to the Platts Jet Fuel Price Index.
Lufthansa said the “short-term adjustments” to flights through May 31 had already been implemented, and new flight schedules from June onward will be published in late April. The company said the announcement signals a capacity decrease of less than 1% in available seat kilometers, and will involve targeting unprofitable routes in Frankfurt and Munich, while simultaneously expanding existing routes in Zurich, Vienna and Brussels.
