Germany’s Lufthansa Group announced Tuesday it will eliminate 20,000 short-distance flights through October as ongoing conflict with Iran sends oil prices soaring and raises concerns about potential jet fuel shortages across multiple nations.
The aviation giant said removing these less profitable routes, primarily affecting operations at Frankfurt and Munich airports, will conserve roughly 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel.
Last week, the company permanently closed CityLine, one of its regional subsidiaries, as part of cost-cutting efforts. The airline group indicated that a “planned consolidation” across its European operations will impact Lufthansa Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS and ITA Airways, along with major hubs in Brussels, Rome, Vienna and Zurich.
Jet fuel costs have more than doubled in certain markets since late February when hostilities began with American and Israeli military actions against Iran. Aviation companies face particular vulnerability to fuel price volatility since jet fuel represents one of their most significant operational costs.
Passengers are already experiencing reduced flight availability on certain routes and increased fees as the busy summer travel season approaches, with numerous carriers implementing higher baggage charges or additional fuel surcharges.
Military action near the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway along Iran’s coastline through which approximately 20% of global oil shipments typically flow, has caused worldwide disruption to fuel pricing and availability.
On April 16, the International Energy Agency director estimated that Europe maintains roughly six weeks of remaining jet fuel reserves and warned that airlines would begin removing routes from their schedules without additional supplies.
Lufthansa stated it has obtained sufficient jet fuel “for the coming weeks” and is “pursuing a range of measures” to maintain steady fuel availability through summer months, “including the physical procurement of jet fuel.”
The German carrier joins numerous other airlines reducing their operations.
Aviation analytics company Cirium reports that all except one of the globe’s 20 largest airlines have canceled scheduled May departures across every major region.
Along with Lufthansa, affected carriers include Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Air Canada, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air China, British Airways and Air France-KLM, according to Cirium data.
Last week, Swiss-based Edelweiss Air revealed it would discontinue service to Denver and Seattle during summer months while reducing Las Vegas flights through early fall.
Air New Zealand is reducing approximately 4% of its May and June flight schedule.
“Like airlines globally, we’re experiencing jet fuel prices that are more than double what they would usually be,” the carrier stated.
Global jet fuel prices jumped from approximately $99 per barrel in late February to peaks of $209 per barrel in early April.
