German aviation giant Lufthansa plans to cancel 20,000 flights this summer, citing fuel prices that have made them unprofitable, the BBC reports.
Jet fuel prices have doubled since the US and Israel launched a war with Iran, as the conflict has slowed production and disrupted the transport of crude. Several airlines, including KLM-France and Delta, have temporarily canceled flights on certain routes, while others have raised ticket prices, thereby passing on the extra costs to customers.
Analysts have warned that further price increases are ahead, and that more flight cancellations are expected as the conflict continues.
The Persian Gulf region is a major source of jet fuel, and Europe imports about 50% of its fuel from there. Most of it is transported through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed for almost two months.
Lufthansa said on the 21st of April that it could save around 40,000 tonnes of jet fuel by cancelling flights. The majority of the savings are expected to come from the closure of the CityLine service. This means that flights to and from Heringsdorf, Cork, Gdansk, Ljubljana, Rijeka, Sibiu, Stuttgart, Trondheim, Tivat and Wroclaw will be temporarily cancelled.
The company will either refund passengers or, if possible, rebook flights
on other group’s airlines, such as SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and ITA Airways. Some of the cancelled routes may not be restored even after the situation stabilizes. Lufthansa will review its European routes and provide more information at the end of April.
The International Energy Agency warned last week that Europe could face a shortage of jet fuel in the coming weeks, but the British government and airlines said at the time that they saw no disruption to supply.
The European Union said on the 22nd of April that it would set up a monitoring group to track EU transport fuel production, imports, exports and stock levels in order to spot potential fuel shortages early. The bloc said it hoped to do so in a bid to reduce the impact of high fuel prices and potential fuel shortages on the EU aviation sector.
Lufthansa said it would reduce its European route network but would continue to operate its international network, particularly long-haul flights.
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