Iran war fuel hike adds US$100 to long-haul flight cost: study

[BRUSSELS/LONDON] Disruption to global oil supplies from the Iran war has added more than US$100 to the price of long-haul flights from Europe, a cost likely to trigger higher ticket prices, campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) said.

The rise in jet fuel prices has increased the average fuel cost by 88 euros (US$104) for each passenger on long-haul flights leaving Europe and 29 euros on flights within Europe, T&E said.

Its analysis compared prices as of Apr 16, with those just before the US and Israeli war with Iran began on Feb 28.

Jet fuel for a flight from Barcelona to Berlin would be 26 euros more expensive per passenger, while a long-haul trip from Paris to New York would cost 129 euros more in fuel, T&E estimated in its analysis published on Tuesday (Apr 21).

European airlines are preparing for a challenging spring and summer, with jet fuel prices having risen to well over US$100 a barrel since the Iran war began and concern growing that shortages could lead to flight cancellations. The European Union is set to respond with guidelines on managing limited jet fuel supply on Wednesday.

T&E calculated the average fuel burn on all flight routes departing from Europe, and divided this by the number of departing passengers, to calculate how much the fuel price spike would add to the cost per person.

Airline executives from carriers including Lufthansa, Ryanair and Air France-KLM said in March that they were likely to pass on higher fuel costs to consumers if the Strait of Hormuz remained closed over the longer term.

T&E said its calculations showed the extra costs from the fuel price spike were far bigger than the costs airlines face from complying with EU climate change policies.

“The Middle East crisis proves that our real vulnerability is a tank filled with foreign oil, not the laws designed to fix it,” said T&E’s director of aviation Diane Vitry.

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Airlines have called for a rollback of some EU climate policies, including a 2030 mandate to use synthetic green jet fuel as well as a review of upcoming carbon pricing rules.

As part of its package, the EU is set to push for energy independence through greater investments in green jet fuel. REUTERS