SAS Scandinavian Airlines has canceled about a thousand flights due to high fuel prices, while Air France-KLM has announced a ticket surcharge on long-haul flights and Finnair said its prices will increase because of the war.
“Passengers are seeing higher ticket prices and added fuel surcharges, and some routes are being modified to avoid certain airspaces, which increases costs further,” said Wouter Dewulf, air transport economist at the University of Antwerp.
“There have been a few isolated cancellations and schedule adjustments, but nothing that suggests widespread disruption across Europe at this stage,” Dewulf added. But “if high prices and logistical constraints continue for another one to two months, the pressure will increase … airlines may start reducing flight frequencies, cutting less profitable routes, and introducing more targeted cancellations.”
For now, people with tickets are still relatively safe as EU air passenger rights rules discourage last-minute cancellations.
“If carriers decide to cancel because of the [jet fuel] price increase, it is a commercial decision not depriving consumers from compensation rights,” said Steven Berger, senior legal officer for the European Consumer Organization. Compensation ranges from €250 to €600, which airlines must pay to passengers in addition to a ticket refund when they cancel a flight at short notice.
However, people with tickets for summer holidays can’t rest easy. If carriers cancel flights at least 14 days before the departure date, they don’t have to pay compensation, Berger added.