Amid the war in the Middle East, jet fuel prices have skyrocketed, leading to flight cancellations and price hikes. Here’s a look at the situation with the airlines that serve France.
Amid a sharp rise in jet fuel costs driven by the closure of the Hormuz Strait following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, some airlines are cancelling flights, increasing ticket prices, or shifting capacity for the upcoming summer season.
Travel chiefs say that Europe is not expected to experience jet fuel shortages until the end of May, but after that things become unpredictable. Some airlines are already raising prices, or cancelling flights, for financial reasons due to the soaring price of jet fuel.
Here’s a list of airlines that serve France, and their latest announcements – this is based on public statements from companies. Anyone who has flights booked should check directly with the airline.
READ ALSO: Your rights on delayed or cancelled flights in France
AirAsia X
The Malaysian airline’s executives said the company had cut 10 percent of flights across the group, with a surcharge of about 20 percent on fuel in general.
Air France-KLM
Air France, has not planned to cancel any flights this summer. It has, however, doubled its fuel surcharge in April, passing on part of the surge in kerosene prices to ticket fares. Passengers can now expect to pay between €100 and €400 extra (depending on the class) per long-haul return journey when travelling with the national carrier.
However the company’s budget carrier Transavia has announced some cancellations (see below).
Several other French long-haul carriers have announced price hikes, such as Air Caraïbes (also +€100 in economy, +€200 in premium economy, and +€400 in business class) and French Bee (around +€50 per ticket). However, there are no flight cancellations reported.
French Bee is however altering its summer schedule with fewer flights to New York and Los Angeles, and more to Montreal, Réunion and Tahiti.
Corsair, which has also increased its fares by around €100 per return ticket, “limited” adjustments to the flight schedule are to be expected.
Air Canada
Canada’s largest carrier plans to scrap four of its 38 daily flights to New York due to higher fuel prices. The four flights to JFK International Airport will be cut from June 1st to October 25th 2026.
The Canadian carrier has also cancelled flights to Tel Aviv and Dubai until September 7th.
Air New Zealand
The airline said on April 7th it would slash flights through May and June and hike fares, having been one of the first to announce broad increases to ticket prices when the conflict broke out.
Air Transat
The Canadian airline has reduced its capacity by 6 percent between May and October. The Montreal-based airline has mainly consolidated routes to Europe and the Caribbean, citing “the unprecedented aviation-fuel crisis and exceptional volatility in energy markets.”
The airline also noted that it reduced operations on the Montreal route to Guadalajara (Mexico) and has postponed the launch of its Toronto to Accra (Ghana) route.
Alaska Air
The US airline said it would increase fees for the first checked bag by $5 (€4) and by $10 (€8) for the second on its North American flights, as well as for its Hawaiian Airlines unit. It hiked prices for a third checked bag from $50 (€42) to $200 (€170). More details here.
American Airlines
The US carrier said it would hike checked baggage fees by $10 (€8) each for the first and second checked bags and by $150 (€128) for the third checked bag on domestic and short-haul international flights. It also trimmed certain benefits for economy passengers.
It had earlier said it expected a $400 million (€341 million) increase in first-quarter expenses due to fuel prices.
Asiana Airlines
The South Korean airline will slash 22 flights between April and July due to the fuel cost increase, Newsis reported.
Cathay Pacific
The Hong Kong airline said it will cancel around 2 percent of its flights between May 16th to June 30th, with most cuts affecting regional routes. A smaller number of services to Australia, South Asia, and South Africa will also be affected. HK Express, meanwhile, will trim roughly 6 percent of its flights from May 11th to June 30th, 2026.
Cathay raised fuel surcharges by 34 percent on April 1st, just two weeks after doubling the fees. HK Express also increased surcharges on most routes, with the exception of flights to and from mainland China.
The carriers said that passengers affected by the cancellations will be offered alternative flights within 24 hours of their original departure times.
The airline also confirmed it would extend the suspension of flights to Dubai and Riyadh until at least June 30th due to the situation in the region.
Delta Air Lines
Delta said it would raise fees for checked bags in an attempt to offset soaring jet fuel costs, with an increase of $10 (€8) on first and second checked bags and a $50 (€48) increase on the third. Several of its flights to Tel Aviv remain suspended.
Greater Bay Airlines
The Hong Kong-based company said it would raise fuel surcharges on most routes from April 1st, while keeping them unchanged on mainland China and Japan routes.
Hong Kong Airlines
The airline said it would raise fuel surcharges by up to 35 percent from March 12th, with the sharpest increase on flights between Hong Kong and the Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal, where charges would rise to HK$384 (€41) from HK$284 (€30).
British Airways
IAG, which owns British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia of Spain, said it would raise ticket prices to reflect higher jet fuel costs, as, despite its fuel hedges, it was “not immune” to the broader fallout from fuel cost volatility.
IAG is reducing flights to the Middle East when services resume, permanently dropping Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) as a destination, while adding capacity to India and Africa.
Meanwhile, several Aer Lingus flights have been cancelled from its summer schedule due to what it has described as “mandatory maintenance on aircraft” and not due to the current crisis in the Middle East. The airline said the schedule changes apply to approximately 2 percent of Aer Lingus’ overall schedule.
Flights from Dublin to European airports – including Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Faro and Zurich are to be removed from the schedule on a range of dates. It also said that flights to London Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh will also be cancelled, with passengers booked onto other services.
Lufthansa
The German Group announced on April 21st that it will cancel 20,000 flights over the next six months to save 40,000 metric tonnes of jet fuel, which it said had doubled in price.
It said it has axed “unprofitable” short-haul flights operated by its regional subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine, reducing the entire group’s capacity by one per cent in available seat kilometres this summer.
Lufthansa CityLine has hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. The flight cancellations will continue through the end of May. The airline said affected passengers have been notified.
Some routes have also been cancelled in their entirety, including from Frankfurt to Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów in Poland, as well as Stavanger in Norway.
Norse Atlantic
Low-cost Norwegian airline Norse Atlantic has cancelled its flight route between London Gatwick and Los Angeles due to the rise in fuel prices.
SAS
The Scandinavian airline said it would cancel 1,000 flights in April because of high oil and jet fuel prices, after cancelling a “couple hundred” flights in March.
SAS, which had already increased flight prices, said that even if it tried to absorb the rising fuel costs, the price surge would still be a blow to the aviation industry.
Spirit Airlines
The US low-cost carrier shut down abruptly after collapsing under financial pressures, including the sharp rise in fuel costs due to the Iran war.
SunExpress
SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, said it would impose a temporary fuel surcharge of €10 per passenger from May 1st on routes between Turkey and Europe. The surcharge will apply to bookings made on or after April 1st for departures on or after May 1st.
Transavia
Transavia France, the low-cost subsidiary of the Air France-KLM group, has announced the cancellation of around 400 flights in May and June 2026, roughly 2 percent of its schedule, with passengers being offered the option to cancel or reschedule their flights.
United Airlines
The US airline’s CEO Scott Kirby said ticket prices may need to rise by as much as 15 to 20 percent. The company already instated five fare increases late in the first quarter, along with higher baggage fees.
The US airline previously said it would cut unprofitable flights over the next two quarters as it prepares for oil prices to remain above $100 until the end of 2027, Kirby said.
Vietnam Airlines
The carrier plans to cancel 23 flights per week across domestic routes starting in April, Vietnam’s aviation authority said, after the airline requested government assistance to remove an environmental tax on jet fuel.
Volotea
The Spanish low-cost airline introduced a new pricing policy linking ticket prices to fuel costs, which could potentially add a post-purchase surcharge of up to €14 per passenger, per flight.
Westjet
The Canadian airline has cut seat capacity for June as costs soar, the Globe and Mail reported. The carrier will add a C$60 (€37) surcharge to some bookings and combine flights as costs soar.
Which airlines are not changing anything – for the moment?
Meanwhile, budget airlines like Ryanair and easyJet are sticking to their plans and maintaining their capacity for the coming summer, relying on their fuel hedges.
“Our operations are running as normal with no flight disruptions, and we have no intention of changing our flight schedule,” said easyJet France.
Jet2, Britain’s biggest holiday company also vowed not to surcharge summer holidaymakers due to rising jet fuel costs.
Europe’s largest tour operator TUI has reassured customers who have already booked their holidays that the price is fixed “with no fuel surcharges added.”
