Holiday guru said people were coming to him asking if they should cancel their holiday
Holiday expert Simon Calder told holidaymakers to get booking and take advantage of good deals(Image: GB News)
TV holiday expert Simon Calder has given a key holiday booking update for anyone thinking of going away in 2026. People who have booked with jet2, easyjet and TUI have been told that the operators will not charge supplementary fees for fuel even though the Iran conflict has seen prices soar.
The ITV and BBC expert said people were coming to him and asking if they should cancel their holidays. The EU has said that travellers face major problems this year due to the Middle East crisis and the UK Government has said it is working with airlines to monitor the situation.
However, Mr Calder said it was a great time to get mega deals – with some offering loads off. He told GB News: “ Do not cancel your holiday. And if you haven’t booked any and you’re feeling nervous, well, please don’t. Now is a fantastic time to book holidays.
“I wish there wasn’t, but I was looking for instance last night. So, these prices still available. Luton to Mykonos. Okay. Now, beautiful Greek island and most fares in July and August on that route are £55 one way. That is crazy. It should be three times that. It’s a fantastic time to book.
“And you might think, well, yeah, I’ll book the flight and then it’ll be cancelled. But air passenger rights rules are so strong that if you are if your flight is cancelled, then it’s not your problem. It’s the airlines problem. They have to find you an alternative on the same day if at all possible. So, of course, I snapped up one of these flights and I’m just looking forward to it. I’ve been booking holidays like there’s no tomorrow because there’s so many great deals around.”
He said that the current situation was leaving some people worried. He said:”Let me tell you first of all if you have booked a holiday – and I’ve had people it it takes me back almost to COVID – people saying I put this holiday the balance, is due I’ve got to pay you know a couple of thousand pounds should I just cancel the whole thing no go and have a lovely holiday in the UK.
“There will be some flight cancellations, and that is mostly big airlines like Lufthansa, which isn’t a holiday airline. They’ve cancelled 20,000 flights but they’ve done that basically because they were flights which they thought oh we’re not going to make any money out of that with fuel double the price it was so let’s just cancel those.
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“So they’ve taken those flights out. It’s not affecting anybody’s holiday that I know. We’ve had very very unhelpful warnings from European energy chiefs and from the prime minister saying, ‘Oh, you might have to think about your holiday.’No, you don’t. Just just plan your holiday as normal. There is a tiny chance that your flight might be merged with another flight. So, for example, and there is absolutely no plans for this, but if you look at easyJet from Gatwick to Nice, lovely destination, they got six flights a day.
“If they reduce that to four to save a bit of fuel. Well, it would be a slight nuisance for some people. They’d have to go at noon instead of 10:00 in the morning, but ultimately it’s not going to make any difference.
“Another real concern for lots of people is I could be stuck at the other end. Well, I actually put this to an airline boss yesterday and I said, ‘What what happens if you’re in Cyprus?’ Because with other destinations, if they run out of fuel in, I don’t know, Naples, that’s fine. You can just fly out with enough to fly back. Somewhere like Cypress, you can’t do that. And the boss said, ‘Well, it’s very easy. We’ll just do a pit stop in Athens on the way back’. So, there are lots of solutions. Do not cancel your holiday. And if you haven’t booked any and you’re feeling nervous, well, please don’t. Now is a fantastic time to book holidays.”
Jet2 has said holidaymakers are increasingly booking their trips at the last minute since the start of the Iran war amid increasing anxiety over the impact of the conflict and worries over jet fuel supply.
The firm said summer passenger number bookings so far are up 6.2%, thanks to growth across its airline and package holiday business, but in a sign of mounting nervousness among holidaymakers, it revealed the “booking profile has become increasingly close to departure” due to the Middle East war.
It said it is well protected from the fuel cost spike caused by the Iran war for the important summer season, adding it is “maintaining frequent dialogue with our fuel suppliers and airport partners on fuel supply”.
The group’s load factor – a key measure of how well it fills its planes – has remained flat year-on-year for its first quarter so far, though it said the conflict meant there was limited visibility for the peak summer season and beyond.
Its update followed a warning from Heathrow airport separately on Wednesday that it expects passenger numbers for the rest of the year to be affected by the situation in the Middle East.
Airspace closures following the outbreak of the war in the Middle East on February 28 have had a major impact on air travel, and while much of the region’s airspace has since reopened, many people are avoiding flying there because of the conflict.
A raft of European airlines have also recently alerted to impending jet fuel shortages within weeks, given the disruption to their main supply route through the Strait of Hormuz.
Around three-quarters of Europe’s jet fuel supply comes from the Middle East and travels through the crucial shipping route.
Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2, said: “Clearly, we continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East but remain focused on our medium-term goals.”
The group said it expects to report a drop in operating profits to between £435 million and £440 million for the past year to March 31, down from £446.5 million in 2024-25, but said this was in line with market forecasts.
It has increased its summer programme for 2026 by 7.7% to 19.9 million passenger seats.