FLASH NEWS
"Europe has 6 weeks of jet fuel", IEA chief warns: Reserves will reach critical point in June, urgent solutions must be found
2026-04-16 20:20:49 / BOTA
Europe has "perhaps another six weeks of jet fuel reserves," the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, warned on Thursday.
According to a report published this week by the IEA, reserves will reach a critical point in June if Europe is not able to replace at least half of its imports from the Middle East.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told the AP that there could soon be flight cancellations if supplies continue to be blocked.
Earlier, British airline easyJet said bookings were moving more slowly than a year ago, while German airline Lufthansa became the first major airline to ground several aircraft due to high fuel costs, as airlines grapple with the fallout from the Iran war.
Investors warned that easyJet, which said it expects deeper losses in the first half of the year, could be forced to revise its full-year forecasts, amid concerns that uncertainty over jet fuel supplies and the wider impact of the war will prompt further revisions.
Wizz Air has already announced that its annual net profit will be hit by 50 million euros, while Air France-KLM is expected to publish its first-quarter results on April 30, after adding a fuel surcharge to its tickets.
Dutch airline KLM, a subsidiary of Air France-KLM, said on Thursday it would cut 160 flights over the next month due to fuel costs.
Analysts warn that further capacity cuts, groundings and additional fees are likely, as markets are watching airlines' results to better understand the extent of the war's impact on their fragile profit margins and revenues.
The European Union is expected to announce measures to maximize refinery capacity, as European airports have warned of an imminent shortage of jet fuel.
"The conflict in the Middle East has brought short-term uncertainty to fuel costs and customer demand. As expected, the booking window has been shortened in recent weeks, resulting in lower than usual visibility for future bookings," easyJet said.
The war with Iran has driven up jet fuel prices, shaking up the global aviation industry and forcing airlines to raise ticket prices, limit growth plans and revise forecasts.
easyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis said during a media call that travelers are making reservations closer to travel dates and that an initial shift towards domestic travel and urban destinations has been observed.
Lufthansa had earlier launched a series of new flights to Asia in an attempt to capitalize on the change in demand related to the war. The company vowed to continue its broad restructuring strategy, promising investors a simpler and more cost-efficient company.
However, the decision to ground 27 aircraft serving subsidiary CityLine, as well as four older aircraft of main carrier Lufthansa, has concerned unions.
Lufthansa has faced costly and disruptive strikes by pilots and crews in recent weeks.
Airlines have said it is difficult to predict how demand might change in the second half of 2026, as tourists fear travel disruptions and rising prices.
Bookings for the fourth quarter, from July to September, were 30 percent sold out, easyJet's Jarvis said, while flight load factors - the proportion of available seats that are taken by paying passengers - remain uncertain.
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