Friday update from BA on flight and fuel disruptions ahead of summer

British Airways’ parent company warned its profits will be hit as it expects to spend about two billion euro (£1.72 billion) more than planned on fuel this year amid the Iran oil crisis. International Airlines Group (IAG) chief executive Luis Gallego said it is “managing the uncertainty” caused by the fuel price increase by “taking the necessary action on yields, costs and capacity”. He added: “Whilst the impact of the higher fuel price will inevitably lead to lower profit this year than we originally anticipated, we are confident in our business model and strategy.” Mr Gallego said IAG is “not currently seeing any jet fuel supply disruptions across our main hubs or markets” and is “confident in fuel availability through the summer”. Some 120 flights from the UK this month have been cancelled, new figures show, as jet fuel prices surge and fears of shortages grow. Aviation analytics company Cirium said airlines have axed 120 of the 22,613 departures initially scheduled from UK airports in May, equivalent to 0.53%. The number of outbound flights planned for June is 36 lower than a week ago. This represents a 0.2% reduction and means capacity for the month has fallen by 7,972 seats. The final week of May is a peak period for holidays as it is half-time at many schools. For all flights globally, some 13,005 planned for May were cancelled between April 10 and April 21, equivalent to 1.5%. That reduced capacity by almost two million seats. Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, said airlines are “assessing poor performance flights and consolidating or cancelling as required”. She added that UK departures to popular summer hotspots “remain unaffected” and insisted “customers can continue to book with confidence”. Paul Charles, founder of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “Airlines are now being forced to cut flights and make difficult decisions ahead of the peak season. “It is better for them to cancel flights well in advance so that passengers are less inconvenienced than a last-minute change of plan. As the Iran conflict continues, there will need to be many more cancellations as the jet fuel supply is squeezed.” Lufthansa’s airline group announced in April it would cancel 20,000 flights over the following six months to save fuel. Iran continues to have a stranglehold on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, leading to a surge in oil prices and concerns of jet fuel shortages. But on Sunday, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said summer holiday plans will not face major disruption because of the latter. She revealed that more fuel has been imported from America, while refineries have upped their production. The Government has also introduced a temporary rule change allowing airlines to group passengers from different flights together on to fewer planes to save fuel.