Lufthansa cuts 20,000 flights as Iran war causes jet fuel shortage

German aviation company Lufthansa Group says it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights up until October as the Iran war drives up oil prices and deepens worries that some countries may run low on jet fuel.

Lufthansa on Thursday said it would cancel less profitable routes and focus on flights to and from its hub airports in Frankfurt and Munich, which could save approximately 40,000 tonnes of jet fuel.

The German company previously said it would ground 27 planes in its short-haul CityLine subsidiary earlier than planned.

The fuel crisis has been caused by the ongoing standoff between the United States and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway where one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies are normally shipped.

The price of jet fuel has more than doubled in certain markets since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February.

European aviation companies are particularly affected by fuel price increases as jet fuel is one of their most significant expenses, and they rely heavily on imports from the Middle East. Around 75 per cent of Europe’s jet fuel imports come from the region, making any prolonged disruption especially challenging.

Lufthansa said it has secured enough jet fuel “for the coming weeks” and was “pursuing a range of measures” to keep its fuel supply stable for the summer, “including the physical procurement of jet fuel”.

The global price of jet fuel increased from about $99 per barrel at the end of February to as high as $209 a barrel at the beginning of April, the Associated Press news agency reported.

For travellers, this has already meant fewer flight options and higher fees heading into the peak summer season, with many airlines raising checked bag fees or adding fuel surcharges.

Last week, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, told AP that Europe has “maybe six weeks or so [of] jet fuel left”, warning of possible flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remained halted, despite the temporary ceasefire between Iran and the US.

The European Union’s top energy official is also warning that the energy crisis sparked by the war could impact prices for months, “or maybe even years” to come.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said on Wednesday that the war is costing Europe around 500 million euros ($600m) each day. “Even in a best-case scenario,” he said, “it’s still bad,” adding that EU governments “are very worried” about lasting jet fuel shortages.