Tens of thousands of flights have been cancelled this week alone owing to the soaring cost of jet fuel.
The conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have triggered a sharp surge in kerosene prices. Reuters reports that "jet fuel prices have spiked, pushing up operating costs, with European prices doubling and Asian prices up almost 80% since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February."
The cheapest economy tickets are now costing 24% more on average than they did a year ago, according to research from consultancy Teneo. Airspace restrictions resulting from the conflict have led airlines to reroute numerous flights, significantly increasing their fuel consumption.
A reduction in capacity for security reasons amongst Gulf carriers such as Emirates and Etihad has driven up demand on airlines less directly affected by the war, which has consequently pushed ticket prices higher.
In an effort to protect their bottom lines, airlines are scrapping flights throughout the spring and summer months. Here are some of the biggest carriers to have done so.
The world's largest airline has cancelled further flights this week, directly attributing the decision to the rising cost of jet fuel. These include suspending routes from New York to Memphis, St Louis and Houston until September 8, halting Detroit to Sacramento flights until March 2027, and Boston to Nassau until September, according to Travel Market Report.
The world's second largest airline has announced plans to axe routes, though it remains unclear which services will be affected. Chief executive Scott Kirby informed staff that the carrier would scale back less-popular flights during off-peak periods, such as redeye flights and those operating on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. United's services to Tel Aviv and Dubai have also been suspended owing to the conflict, according to CBS News.
As of late April 2026, American Airlines has cut its capacity and withdrawn its full-year profit forecast amid soaring jet fuel costs. While it has not announced a fixed percentage of blanket cancellations as some rivals have, it is actively "trimming capacity" across several markets to manage a projected $400 million (£296 million) rise in expenditure brought about by the fuel crisis.
This week, Europe's largest airline made the significant announcement that it was scrapping 20,000 flights. "In total, 20,000 short-haul flights will be removed from the schedule through October, equivalent to approximately 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, the price of which has doubled since the outbreak of the Iran conflict," the airline announced.
Dutch carrier KLM will cancel 160 flights across Europe in the coming month due to mounting fuel costs, it confirmed last week. The Dutch arm of airline group Air France KLM stated that the cancellations affected less than 1% of its total European flights.
Although Emirates has not axed flights as a direct result of the soaring price of jet fuel, it has increased costs substantially, partly due to its drastically reduced schedule "due to the regional situation". According to Flightradar24, Emirates is running at 70% of its typical schedule. Emirates is imposing fuel surcharges of approximately £200 for economy fares to Europe, according to the Market Report.
Air New Zealand's cancellations are anticipated to impact routes in and out of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, while flights to smaller airports will remain unaffected. The airline, which had already scaled back some services last month, announced on Tuesday that the "vast majority" of affected passengers were being provided alternative flights on the same day.
The Malaysian carrier has slashed 10% of flights across the group and introduced a fuel surcharge of roughly 20%.
Canada's biggest carrier intends to reduce four of its 38 daily flights to New York owing to higher fuel prices. The four services to JFK International Airport will be eliminated from June 1 to October 25, 2026.
The South Korean carrier will trim 22 flights between April and July owing to rising fuel costs, according to Travel Radar.
The Hong Kong carrier stated it would axe some flights from mid-May to the end of June, scrapping about 2% of its scheduled passenger services. Its budget carrier HK Express is cutting around 6% of flights.
Low-cost Norwegian carrier Norse Atlantic has scrapped its route between London Gatwick and Los Angeles owing to rising fuel prices.
The Scandinavian airline announced it would axe 1,000 flights in April due to elevated oil and jet fuel prices, having already scrapped a couple of hundred flights in March.
The Vietnamese budget carrier revealed it has reduced flight frequencies on certain routes as a result of potential fuel shortages.
The airline intends to cancel 23 flights per week across domestic routes from April, according to Vietnam's aviation authority, following the carrier's request for government assistance to eliminate an environmental tax on jet fuel.
