EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas recently issued a clear warning to airlines: passengers must be compensated for canceled flights due to rising fuel prices. Several airlines have cut 2 million seats from their May flight plans in the past two weeks as conflicts in the Middle East push up jet fuel prices.
Tsitsikostas pointed out in an interview that the increase in fuel prices is a "normal operating cost of the aviation industry" and does not constitute a "special situation" that can exempt liability. He stressed that if airlines cancel flights that are "no longer financially worthwhile", they must compensate passengers in accordance with the law.
Although the International Energy Agency and the European Union Energy Commissioner warned about European jet fuel supplies, saying that stocks would only last for six weeks, Tsitsikostas said that Europe "can maintain jet fuel supplies in the long term." He also called on all parties to avoid using rhetoric that creates panic, saying "the tourist season is coming, and we need to be careful with our words."
Meanwhile, the European Commission will publish new guidelines this week that reiterate existing rules rather than make new concessions. The draft document clearly states: "Managing the risk of high fuel costs is a normal part of airline business."
In addition, airlines will still face the risk of losing takeoff and landing slots if they cancel flights due to high fuel prices. Tsitsikostas expects that although the number of passengers from and through the Middle East will decline, intra-European travel demand will make up for the gap, and some southern European countries may not even be affected at all.
Tsikkostas’s remarks came as the head of a major Asian airline said the fuel crisis was worse than the coronavirus pandemic. Planes were grounded at the time due to global travel bans.
“I thought I had seen it all with COVID... but seeing jet fuel prices almost triple – it’s much worse this time around,” said AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, TAGPH20
“You wake up one day and realize your major expenses have tripled – that’s a new experience for me, and I’ve been through a lot in my life.”
Since Fuel prices have risen sharply since the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has hampered oil exports from the Middle East.