The global air travel crisis has spread further as Lufthansa and KLM became the latest airlines to announce flights axed to and from major destinations, including London Heathrow
More flights have been axed as the Iran war hits air travel(Image: AP)
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled by two major airlines amid warnings Europe has just a “few weeks” of jet fuel left.
Germany’s flag carrier airline Lufthansa is suspending its CityLine services from tomorrow, including flights to and from London, in response to rocketing kerosene costs and an ongoing trade union dispute. Netherlands’ KLM meanwhile confirmed it had cancelled 160 flights over the next month, as the industry grapples with an ‘unprecedented’ oil shock triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
It comes after the head of the world ’s energy watchdog has warned that Europe only has six weeks’ supply of jet fuel because of the Middle East conflict.
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Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), warned there could be flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain restricted by the war, with Iran and the US jostling for control for the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway.
Mr Birol said the conflict is causing “the largest energy crisis” the world has “ever faced”, with Asian nations such as Japan, India and China that rely on energy from the Middle East currently on “the front line”. But he warned that the impact would then “come to Europe and the Americas”, likely as soon as late May. Tourists are encouraged to continue to check before they travel.
Lufthansa’s CityLine services, which fly to a number of destinations across Europe including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Florence, Kraków, Stockholm and Copenhagen, will be cancelled from Saturday. Multiple daily services from Heathrow have already been pulled from the schedule.
A statement from Lufthansa last night said: “In view of significantly increased kerosene prices, which have more than doubled compared to the period before the Iran war, as well as rising additional burdens from labour disputes, the implementation of the corporate strategy is being partially accelerated.
“As a first, immediately effective step, starting the day after tomorrow, the 27 operational aircraft of Lufthansa Cityline will be permanently removed from the schedule to reduce further losses at the loss-making airline.”
Ongoing strikes by pilots and cabin crew belonging to German trade unions have already grounded approximately 90% of all Lufthansa Group flights on the worst days this week, with cancellations reported at Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Newcastle, and Glasgow.
KLM announced “a number of adjustments to its flight schedule for the coming month” on routes which are “no longer financially viable to operate”. The Dutch airline said this was due “rising kerosene costs”, adding: “There is no kerosene shortage.”
Meanwhile, schedule data published by AeroRoutes this week showed that Norse Airlines has cancelled bookings for its planned Los Angeles flights this summer from London Gatwick, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Rome Fiumicino.
Jet prices have more than doubled since the beginning of the Iran war on February 28, causing the largest wave of cancellations at many major international airports since the Covid pandemic.
