Europe possesses merely six weeks of fuel reserves, according to the IEA director(Image: imagean via Getty Images)
Europe faces just six weeks’ worth of jet fuel reserves due to the escalating Middle East conflict, prompting major carriers to cancel services.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), cautioned that flight cancellations could occur “soon” if oil supplies remain disrupted by the Iran conflict.
Iran maintains strict control over vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, with Mr Birol telling the Associated Press this is creating “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced”.
He cautioned that Asian countries including Japan, India and China, which rely significantly on Middle Eastern energy resources, are on “the front line”, with the impact expected to “come to Europe and the Americas” soon afterwards.
Europe possesses merely six weeks of fuel reserves, according to the IEA director, reports the Mirror.
He stated that should the Strait of Hormuz stay blocked, the resulting consequences could mean “some of the flights from city A to city B might be canceled as a result of a lack of jet fuel”.
Several airlines have indicated they may need to axe flights should the situation persist, though the number that have actually done so remains limited.
Swedish national carrier SAS has announced it will cancel 1,000 flights in April due to elevated oil and jet fuel costs, having already scrapped a “couple hundred” flights in March. United Airlines announced that five per cent of services would be axed during the second and third quarters of 2026, while Dutch carrier KLM has scrapped 160 flights over the coming month.
South Korean carrier Asiana will cut 22 services between April and July owing to rising fuel expenses.
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific will reduce certain flights from mid-May through to the end of June, with approximately 2% of its scheduled passenger services affected. Its low-cost subsidiary HK Express is trimming around 6% of flights.
German aviation group Lufthansa revealed it would retire 27 aircraft operating its short-haul CityLine division sooner than originally intended, citing jet fuel prices.
Vietnam Airlines intends to axe 23 flights weekly on domestic routes from April.
Air New Zealand will be scaling back services over the next two months, it confirmed in March. Around 1,100 flights are expected to be affected.
Norse Atlantic Airways has removed all services to Los Angeles International Airport from its summer timetable, citing the fuel shortage.
While major carriers including British Airways, Ryanair and easyJet have acknowledged the potential impact of rising fuel prices on ticket costs and timetables, they have not yet cancelled flights as a direct result.
However, BA is discontinuing its route from London Heathrow to Jeddah, though this is attributed to changing demand patterns, according to the carrier. Last week, easyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis attempted to provide reassurance to travellers, declaring that all airports served by the carrier are “operating as normal”.
He added: “We only ever in this industry have three to four weeks’ visibility (of jet fuel supplies), and that is the same as it was pre-crisis. We have visibility to the middle of May, and we have no concerns. What we’re seeing is airports and fuel suppliers working well to bring jet fuel to the airports.”
EasyJet disclosed that the Middle East conflict cost the airline approximately £25 million in increased jet fuel expenses last month.
The Luton-headquartered carrier indicated it expects to report a headline pre-tax loss of between £540 million and £560 million for the six months concluding in March.
The conflict has generated “near-term uncertainty around fuel costs and customer demand”, easyJet confirmed.
Reservations have fallen by two percentage points for the three-month periods finishing in both June and September compared with the prior year.
The warning about greater-than-expected first half losses caused easyJet shares to plunge by as much as 9% during early Thursday trading, before recovering to settle around 4% lower.
 Europe faces just six weeks' worth of je){kind=link}