Flight cancellations hit Britain as jet fuel prices soar (original) (raw)
Airlines providing vital “lifeline” flights to far-flung parts of the British Isles have begun cancelling services amid soaring jet fuel prices.
Flights from Cornwall and Guernsey to London are among those earmarked for closure or a reduction in frequencies as smaller airlines struggle to cope with the jump in costs.
Skybus cancelled its Newquay-to-Gatwick route just before the bank holiday weekend, with Jonathan Hinkles, its managing director, citing a “huge rise in the cost of fuel following the war in the Gulf,” coupled with a “significant drop” in passenger bookings.
Guernsey-based Aurigny said it will reduce the number of flights from the Channel Island to London City airport while combining services to Exeter and Bristol. The schedule to Paris will also be pared back.
Nico Bezuidenhout, Aurigny’s chief executive, said the airline had been forced into the move by a doubling in the price of kerosene since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb 28, coupled with an unexpected slump in bookings.
Jet fuel prices are more than 130pc higher than they were this time last year, according to the International Air Transport Association.
While Aurigny has imposed a £2 levy on top of its usual ticket prices, Mr Bezuidenhout said much bigger fees would have been necessary to carry on operating some flights.
With the Guernsey market unable to absorb such increases, the decision was taken to trim the timetable so that surviving flights would fly fuller and continue to be viable.
He said: “I’ve been through a couple of fuel crises and you can do one of two things: transfer that cost burden to the consumer, or reduce costs by consolidating flights, as we’ve chosen to do.”
Small airlines flying to destinations such as Jersey have been hit by the doubling in the price of kerosene since Donald Trump launched his war on Iran - Beata Moore/Alamy Stock Photo
Some parts of Asia have been hit by jet fuel shortages after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz shut off supplies from the Gulf.
Mr Bezuidenhout said: “Fuel shortages may well end up being a reality, I’m not ruling that out, but I don’t see that as an imminent reality.”
Skybus operated Newquay-Gatwick flights under a contract funded by the Government and the local council, which took it over in November following the collapse of Eastern Airways.
Toby Parkins, the president of the Cornish Chamber of Commerce, said he had concerns about the future of Newquay airport following the loss of landing fees from Skybus, which he said amounted to £2,000 compared with £600 for the larger low-cost airlines.
“The income into the airport is going to be considerably down,” he told the BBC.
Increases in air passenger duty imposed by the UK Government from the start of this month together with higher EU passenger compensation will make it tougher for regional carriers to absorb oil-related costs, Mr Bezuidenhout said.
Flights of an hour or less have significant fixed costs and are not subsidised by the high-fare, long-haul routes that help sustain losses on shorter flights at network carriers.
Aurigny is hedged on only 20pc-50pc of its near-term fuel needs. That compares with 70pc at British Airways, which said it is planning to go ahead with the launch of flights from Heathrow to Guernsey on April 19, with tickets priced at around £70 each way.
Mr Bezuidenhout said: “It’s becoming progressively tougher to do business for anybody active in the short-haul, domestic market in the UK. Yet regional carriers provide literally lifeline connectivity to communities that would otherwise be cut off from main economic centres.”