Airlines around world hike fares as Iran war sparks global fuel price surge
Global News
The war has sent oil prices surging, upending global travel, pushing airline tickets on some routes sky-high, and sparking fears of a deep travel slump.
Australia’s Qantas Airways, Scandinavia’s SAS and Air New Zealand announced airfare hikes on Tuesday, blaming an abrupt spike in the cost of fuel caused by the Middle East conflict that is rattling the global aviation sector.
Jet fuel prices, which were around $85 to $90 per barrel before U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, have soared to between $150 and $200, New Zealand’s flag carrier said as it suspended its financial outlook for 2026 due to uncertainty over the conflict.
The war, which disrupted shipping via the world’s most vital oil export route, has sent oil prices surging, upending global travel, pushing airline tickets on some routes sky-high, and sparking fears of a deep travel slump.
“Increases of this magnitude make it necessary to react in order to maintain stable and reliable operations,” an SAS spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters, adding it had implemented a “temporary price adjustment”.
The largest Scandinavian airline last year temporarily adjusted its fuel hedging policy due to uncertain market conditions and said that it had no fuel consumption hedged for the following 12 months.
Several Asian and European airlines, including Lufthansa and Ryanair, have oil hedging in place, securing a part of their fuel supplies at fixed prices.
A spokesperson for Air Canada told Global News it had taken hedging positions for “a small portion of our short-term needs, to manage fuel price volatility,” and would not comment on potential future airfare hikes.
Finnair, which had hedged over 80% of its first-quarter fuel purchases, warned that even the availability of fuel could be at risk if the conflict dragged on.
Sustained pressure on oil prices could mean Canadians will pay significantly more at the grocery store by the end of this month, one expert said.
Also on Sunday, the Prime Minister's Office said Carney gathered the Incident Response Group with ministers and senior officials to discuss the ongoing war in Iran.
An investigative group says newly released video “appears to contradict” U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible for an explosion at an Iranian school.
A survey found a majority of Canadians want Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to lose his claim to the throne, while 51 per cent say the Royal Family is not relevant to them personally.
PST, the Norwegian police security service, called in additional personnel following the incident but has not changed the country's terror threat level.
Israel's military has so far killed about 200 Hezbollah militants, spokesman Nadav Shoshani said in an online briefing. Hezbollah has not published a toll for its fighters.
Canadians are returning home from the Middle East as escalating U.S.-Iran tensions disrupt travel and rattle global energy markets.
Iran's president apologized Saturday for attacks even as its missiles and drones flew toward Gulf Arab states. He also rejected Donald Trump's repeated demands for surrender.
The U.S. says it has stuck a new agreement to provide up to US$20 billion in reinsurance coverage to 'restore confidence in maritime trade' amid the Iran war.
Leavitt also said Washington was looking at potential candidates to lead Iran, a day after Trump said that the U.S. must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.
Canada has arranged a chartered flight departing from the UAE, which has the highest number of Canadians registered in the region, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said.
Carignan said a meeting is set for early Friday morning to discuss such a proposal among allied militaries and that a recommendation would be presented to the government.
As the Iran conflict jeopardizes global oil and gas supplies, Canada's energy and resource sector may be able to offset some of these impacts and see benefits to the economy.