The travel sector could be about to undergo a period of turmoil.
As the war in Iran rages on, both rising oil prices and consumers’ decreasing desire to jet-set in uncertain times hang like a dark cloud over the industry, threatening to upend air travel across the world.
Already, there are signs of disruptions in the U.K., though with a smaller airline. Aurigny, an airline based out of Guernsey, an island in the English Channel, has cancelled some flights from mid-April stretching into early June as a result of the war. Some flights to London City airport, for example, have now been combined with aircraft heading to the Big Smoke’s Gatwick. Aurigny also says demand has soured in recent months, falling by 13 percent for flights taking off in May.
“Global events are impacting consumer confidence and changing travel behaviors,” Aurigny chief commercial officer Philip Saunders said in a statement, per The Independent.
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway in global oil trade, has nearly doubled the price of jet fuel, according to The New York Times. As a result airlines are left to bear the brunt of the increases, and some brands are passing that price onto their passengers. Aurigny, for its part, add a small fee of around $3, in what it calls a “temporary fuel adjustment charge,” to all its new bookings. Air France and KLM both hiked up their prices by about $60 to accommodate for oil prices, and United Airlines may raise ticket prices by 20 percent to compensate for rising fuel costs.
Korean Air, meanwhile, is instituting “internal cost-reduction measures,” according to the BBC, with the possibility of flight cancellations on the horizon. Air Zealand, too, will start cutting flights in the next couple of months in order to save on fuel, The New York Times reported.
For now, these problems have not impacted the U.S. nearly as heavily, as fliers continue to travel and largely have the income to do so, the NYT reported; United Airlines exec Scott Kirby, for instance, said the airline’s 10 biggest booked revenue weeks have been the previous 10 weeks, according to the publication. Though, if the war with Iran were to continue, there’s a chance that more disruptions (besides any TSA-related hiccups) could be headed our way soon.
