BUSINESS NEWS


The EU is being urged to follow the UK’s example and relax slot usage rules


Airlines reassure despite ongoing fuel uncertainty


ANALYSIS:Mitigation steps will help but outlook remains unclear. By Ian Taylor The data is reassuring. The


More than 10 weeks into the US-Iran confrontation and we appear no nearer to a resolution and a relaxation of the squeeze on oil supplies. The US president continues to veer


between claiming the war will be “over quickly” (last week) and dismissing Iran’s response to US proposals to end the war as “totally unacceptable” (at the weekend). So, the blockade of oil and refined products from the Gulf – including jet fuel – remains. British Airways’ owner IAG


and the Lufthansa Group sought to 48 14 MAY 2026


reassure analysts, passengers and partners of their continuing access to fuel last week, while the UK Department for Transport responded acidly to media reports of wholesale flight cancellations. The DfT noted on May 8: “Around


1,200 departing passenger flights from the UK have been removed from schedules from May 3 to June 14 . . . less than 1% of the flights originally scheduled over this period, within the range we would expect in a normal year”. It added: “Only up to 0.2% flights have been cancelled from June to August.”


problem lies in what is to come. Deloitte UK chief economist Ian Stewart noted this week “the sustained loss of 10% of the world’s oil supply” was bound to cause problems although “the buffers in the system have so far cushioned the impact”. However, he warned: “The


fragmented nature of energy storage makes it impossible to assess the precise level of remaining stocks. The


Continued on page 46 travelweekly.co.uk


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PICTURE: Shutterstock/Deboraht Suarez


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