British Airways has confirmed that it has become the latest international airline to start trimming back its schedule from next month as oil prices surge and speculation mounts that Europe could be facing a jet fuel crisis within weeks.
Over the last couple of days, British Airways passengers have been taking to social media to share their stories of flights they had booked in May being cancelled. In some cases, passengers are being rebooked onto an alternative flight only for that to be cancelled as well.
“There’s definitely something going on as I am not used to such short notice ‘pre-planned’ cancellations from BA, and it seems exceptionally unusual for there to be no rebooking options on a route that they fly so frequently from multiple London airports,” one frequent flyer wrote on the popular chatroom site Flyer Talk after their flight from London to Ibiza was cancelled over the weekend.
Like many airlines in Europe, British Airways ‘hedges’ some of its fuel supply, in which it pays an upfront price… if prices go up, then the fuel company takes the hit, while if fuel prices were to go below the agreed price, British Airways would lose out.
Fuel hedging will insulate British Airways and other like-minded carriers to a certain extent from surging oil prices due to the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but airlines generally only hedge a percentage of their overall fuel needs.
While hedging percentages vary, this is typically around a 40/60% split.
British Airways has not publicly commented on what impact the current crisis in the Middle East is having on its operation or whether it plans to slash flight schedules in response to rising oil prices or jet fuel availability.
A spokesperson for British Airways did, however, confirm that the airline was currently cutting some flights on route which are served by multiple flights per day.
“The vast majority of our flights are continuing to operate as planned,” the airline told us in an emailed statement. “We’ve made very minor adjustments to parts of our short‑haul schedule by combining some high‑frequency services, allowing customers to travel on the same day as originally planned.”
The airline suggested that the changes were part of routine adjustments that it makes to its flying program.
British Airways’ home hub at Heathrow Airport is so capacity-constrained that regulators impose ‘use it, or lose it’ slot control rules, which mean that airlines must operate any given service 80% of the time or risk forfeiting the takeoff ‘slot’ to a rival carrier.
These rules were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic but were reimposed in 2023. There has, so far at least, been no talk of suspending the 80/20 slot rules in response to rising fuel prices or a lack of jet fuel.
On Monday, Heathrow Airport said the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz has not yet had any impact on operations, but a spokesperson noted that the airport was working with the British government and airlines to “protect passengers’ journeys.”
