The high cost of fuel resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has led to a decline in the ability of low-cost airlines to bear the high cost of fuel, prompting them to cancel a number of their flights. According to various estimates, low-cost airlines, which account for just over a third of the global market, are suffering from the consequences of the current crisis more than others, due to the nature of their business model.

Published on: 04/28/2026 - 22:18

Due to the nature of their business model, low-cost airlines bear greater losses than regular companies due to the rise in the price of fuel resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which forces them to cancel a number of their flights.

The closure of the strategic corridor has disrupted a large portion of oil supplies, causing aviation fuel prices to rise and raising fears of a shortage that could force companies to cancel flights.

A fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas production usually passes through the strait, and it has been practically closed since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28.

Airlines, such as Ryanair, Transavia and Volotea, did not wait for the shortage of supplies to move to limit the repercussions.

Karen Skaller, host of the “Travel Therapy” program, said on Instagram, “Attention travelers: Airlines are reducing thousands of flights. Book early.”

This advice is consistent with what Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said earlier this month, when he expressed concern that fears of fuel shortages were causing people to postpone booking flights.

According to various estimates, low-cost airlines, which account for slightly more than a third of the global market, are suffering from the consequences of the current crisis more than others, due to the nature of their business model.

As ticket prices fall, their ability to bear the rising cost of fuel decreases.

“It is not uncommon for airlines to adjust their flight schedules at this time of year,” financial analyst Dudley Shanley at investment bank Goodbody told Agence France-Presse.

But he warned: “If jet fuel prices remain at this level, further adjustments will have to be made for low-cost airlines.”

If airlines before the war were able to maintain profitable destinations with a limited or even unprofitable margin, the significant rise in fuel prices will put them before difficult choices, which will appear at the peak of the summer travel season.

"Unfortunately, it is very likely that many people's holidays will be affected, either because flights have been canceled or because ticket prices are very high," EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen told Sky News last week.

20 thousand flights cancelled

How quickly airlines respond depends in part on how well they secure fuel supplies in advance at fixed prices. European airlines tend to do this more than their global competitors.

Low-cost Canadian company Air Transat reduced its flight schedule by six percent during the period from May to October.

Also, AirAsia, the largest low-cost company in the southeast of the continent, announced that it will reduce more of its flights, even transit flights.

Earlier this month, the Malaysian low-cost airline announced that it would raise ticket prices by up to 40 percent, in exchange for reducing a corresponding percentage of its flights.

So far, the Hungarian airline Wizz Air has resisted reducing its flights.

Aviation Week magazine quoted the company's director, Joseph Varady, as saying, "We will not reduce our capacity because I believe that others will reduce their capacity."

Examples of this include the German Lufthansa Group's announcement that it will cancel 20,000 flights until October, and the complete cessation of its regional subsidiary, City Line.

Also, the Air France-KLM group reduced its flights by 2 percent in May and June via its low-cost carrier Transavia. KLM canceled one percent of its European flights.

Ryanair announced last week that it would reduce the number of flights to and from Berlin starting in October, citing higher costs and taxes, not fuel prices.

France 24/AFP

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