Europe\u2019s biggest airlines have said the rise in fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East will drive up fares and are advising passengers to book early.<\/p>\n
While carriers have partly hedged the price of jet fuel, bosses said they could not avoid passing on additional costs to passengers for long.<\/p>\n
Long-haul airlines such as Air France-KLM and Lufthansa said they would be adding more flights via Asia with Gulf carriers\u2019 hubs either shut or operating at a reduced level since the US-Israeli attack on Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n EasyJet dismissed any fears of imminent fuel shortages affecting flights in Europe despite concerns about supplies in parts of Asia, with Vietnamese airlines this week warning that they may reduce schedules.<\/p>\n Kenton Jarvis, the airline\u2019s chief executive, said it was \u201cnot seeing any issues\u201d with its fuel supply. However, he said passengers should book as early as possible, with hedges on the price starting to unwind, spelling higher fares.<\/p>\n Ryanair\u2019s chief executive, Michael O\u2019Leary, likewise downplayed immediate changes but said that if fuel price increases \u201cdrag on for six months\u201d it would become an issue for airlines.<\/p>\n According to Iata\u2019s jet fuel monitor, the price of kerosene was already 94% up on the annual average at the end of last week, and the price of crude oil rose sharply again<\/a> on Thursday after escalating hostilities.<\/p>\n The executives were speaking in Brussels as part of Airlines for Europe (A4E), a trade and lobbying group covering 16 airline groups, including BA\u2019s owner, IAG; Air-France-KLM; and Lufthansa.<\/p>\n There were indications that there could also be silver linings in the crisis for Europe\u2019s long-haul carriers, if they manage to reassert their global role after ceding ground to airlines and airport hubs in the Gulf<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lufthansa said it had added 40 flights to Asia to compensate for disruption in the Gulf. Air France-KLM said it was also boosting capacity to Asia, recapturing some market share on the back of \u201cvery healthy\u201d demand on routes to Asia and Africa.<\/p>\n BA this week announced direct flights to Melbourne in Australia, extending flights via Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia from London Heathrow. It said it was adding more services to destinations such as the Caribbean that avoid flying through congested and disrupted Middle Eastern airspace.<\/p>\n However, tourism to Europe could be hit, the consultancy Oxford Economics warned, with almost 28m outbound trips from the Middle East at risk. It said Turkey, France and the UK were particularly vulnerable with a typically higher share of Middle Eastern visitors.<\/p>\n Mediterranean destinations such as Spain, Portugal and Greece could benefit as alternatives for those who might have visited the Gulf, it said.<\/p>\n A4E bosses put out a collective statement urging Europe\u2019s leaders to back the industry by cutting green taxes, saying they were \u201closing competitive ground to non-EU airlines, destinations and hubs that do not face similar regulatory obligations\u201d.<\/p>\n They said it would be a choice between \u201cgrowing connectivity or a cutback in routes\u201d, adding: \u201cThe large-scale airspace shutdowns in the Middle East are a reminder of our resilience and how important EU airlines and hubs are for connectivity with the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n