UK airlines given green light to cancel or consolidate flights to conserve jet fuel | Airline industry
UK airlines could cancel or combine flights this summer under new plans to preserve jet fuel as war in the Middle East continues to disrupt supplies.
Precautions are being taken to avoid major disruptions as Britons go on summer holidays. Airlines carefully examine their schedules to see which flights can be canceled in advance and cause the least amount of delays.
The government announced on Sunday that new legislation will allow actions to be put in place to stop last-minute cancellations, such as combining schedules on routes with multiple flights to the same destination on the same day.
The changes will allow airlines to give back a limited portion of their allocated take-off and landing slots without losing the right to operate them in the following season. Often canceling them puts airlines at risk of losing slots; This means that they sometimes operate half-empty planes to maintain usage rights.
In the event of a jet fuel shortage, airlines will cancel flights well in advance, meaning passengers can switch to similar services much earlier.
Ministers say that if a significant portion of the tickets are not sold on flights, the tickets may also be canceled in order to prevent wasting fuel on almost empty planes. According to plans, flights will have to be canceled at least two weeks in advance.
Rob Bishton, CEO of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “The relaxation of rules on slots at airports will give airlines greater flexibility and we therefore expect them to give passengers as much notice as possible of cancellations during this period.”
The plans were drawn up at a meeting last Thursday between transport minister Heidi Alexander and representatives from Heathrow and Gatwick airports, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet.
The de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, an important artery for oil and natural gas, since the beginning of March has caused an energy crisis in many countries and caused European states to fear jet fuel shortages. By some calculations, Europe has only a few weeks of jet fuel supplies left. The UK is exposed to this situation because it imports around 65% of the jet fuel it uses, most of it from the Middle East.
Alexander said: “There are no immediate supply issues, but we are now preparing to give families long-term certainty and avoid unnecessary disruption at the departure gate this summer.
“This legislation will give airlines the tools to arrange flights in a timely manner if they need to, which will help protect passengers and businesses. We will do everything we can to insulate our country from the impact of the situation in the Middle East.”
