The German airline says 20,000 short-haul flights could be faraway from its schedule by October.
Printed On 23 Apr 2026
German aviation firm Lufthansa Group says it will reduce 20,000 short-haul flights up till October because the Iran struggle drives up oil costs and deepens worries that some nations could run low on jet gas.
Lufthansa on Thursday mentioned it will cancel much less worthwhile routes and concentrate on flights to and from its hub airports in Frankfurt and Munich, which may save roughly 40,000 tonnes of jet gas.
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The German firm beforehand mentioned it will floor 27 planes in its short-haul CityLine subsidiary sooner than deliberate.
The gas disaster has been attributable to the continued standoff between the US and Iran within the Strait of Hormuz, the important waterway the place one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied pure fuel provides are usually shipped.
The worth of jet gas has greater than doubled in sure markets for the reason that US-Israeli struggle on Iran started in late February.
European aviation firms are significantly affected by gas value will increase as jet gas is considered one of their most important bills, and so they rely closely on imports from the Center East. Around 75 per cent of Europe’s jet gas imports come from the area, making any extended disruption particularly difficult.
Lufthansa mentioned it has secured sufficient jet gas “for the approaching weeks” and was “pursuing a variety of measures” to maintain its gas provide secure for the summer season, “together with the bodily procurement of jet gas”.
The worldwide value of jet gas elevated from about $99 per barrel on the finish of February to as excessive as $209 a barrel firstly of April, the Related Press information company reported.
For travellers, this has already meant fewer flight choices and better charges heading into the height summer season season, with many airways elevating checked bag charges or including gas surcharges.
Final week, the top of the Worldwide Power Company, Fatih Birol, advised AP that Europe has “perhaps six weeks or so [of] jet gas left”, warning of potential flight cancellations “quickly” if oil provides remained halted, regardless of the short-term ceasefire between Iran and the US.
The European Union’s prime power official can also be warning that the power disaster sparked by the struggle may affect costs for months, “or perhaps even years” to come back.
EU Power Commissioner Dan Jørgensen mentioned on Wednesday that the struggle is costing Europe round 500 million euros ($600m) every day. “Even in a best-case state of affairs,” he mentioned, “it’s nonetheless dangerous,” including that EU governments “are very nervous” about lasting jet gas shortages.
