{"id":508843,"date":"2026-04-02T11:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508843\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:43:11","slug":"uk-flights-cancellations-begin-as-fuel-costs-soar-and-demand-drops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508843\/","title":{"rendered":"UK flights cancellations begin as fuel costs soar and demand drops"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cJuFfN\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cJuFfN\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cJuFfN\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/flight-cancellations\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Flight cancellations<\/a> in the UK have begun, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/aurigny\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aurigny<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/guernsey\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Guernsey<\/a> cancelling some flights from mid-April to early June as a result of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/middle-east\/iran-us-war-live-trump-speech-oil-strait-of-hormuz-b2950540.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> the Iran war<\/a>. The Channel Islands airline described the cuts as \u201cproactive measures to address the impact of global instability\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The carrier has also introduced a \u201ctemporary fuel adjustment surcharge\u201d of \u00a32 per sector on all new bookings. It will not be applied retrospectively.<\/p>\n<p>Demand for flights is falling: down 13 per cent in May, according to the company. Aurigny has therefore cancelled some departures to and from Guernsey, and combined others.<\/p>\n<p>Flights serving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/london-city\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">London City<\/a> airport have been reduced, with affected passengers offered seats on London <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/gatwick\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gatwick<\/a> services. <\/p>\n<p>Links from Exeter and Bristol have been combined. As a result, some journeys from Bristol to Guernsey will be extended by an hour from the current 55 minutes. The airline says the move is aimed at \u201cpreserving the number of weekly frequencies whilst reducing excess seats\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>A planned increase in weekly flights between Paris and Guernsey has been deferred until June.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aurigny-Cancellation.png\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Flight switch: Aurigny passengers whose flights have been cancelled have been provisionally rebooked on other departures\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Flight switch: Aurigny passengers whose flights have been cancelled have been provisionally rebooked on other departures (Aurigny)<\/p>\n<p>Aurigny\u2019s chief commercial officer, Philip Saunders, said: \u201cWhile a small island community, we are not immune from the realities presented by the global travel ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCurrent global events are impacting consumer confidence and changing travel behaviours. Furthermore, significant increases in global oil prices are now filtering through to aviation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, we have to pass on some of the resulting costs to customers to ensure sustainable air services to and from Guernsey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough there is some softening of demand for near-term travel, we are pleased to be observing strength from July onwards, as we welcome more UK holidaymakers back to our safe and beautiful islands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOverall, despite all these challenges, we expect a positive year for the Guernsey travel market.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Passengers with itineraries affected by the changes are being contacted directly by the airline. They are being provisionally booked onto alternative departures, but can change to another flight up to five days earlier or later than the original. They can also claim a full refund.<\/p>\n<p>British Airways is returning to Guernsey on 19 April, with a new summer service from London Heathrow. <\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday Michael O\u2019Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, warned some flights could be cancelled due to a shortage of fuel.<\/p>\n<p>In its latest traffic figures for March, Ryanair\u2019s \u201cload factor\u201d \u2013 the number of seats filled \u2013 remained unchanged at 93 per cent.<\/p>\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/travel\/news-and-advice\/jet-fuel-holiday-flight-surcharge-b2949824.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Could your holiday flight be cancelled due to lack of fuel \u2013 and will you have to pay extra?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-508843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}