Politics
Airlines hike ticket prices as Iran war propels fuel costs
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.
Jet fuel prices, which were around $85 to $90 per barrel before US-Israeli strikes on Iran, have soared to between $150 and $200 per barrel in recent days, 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 that could lead to widespread grounding of planes.
“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 said last year it had temporarily adjusted its fuel hedging policy due to uncertain market conditions and that it had no fuel consumption hedged for the following 12 months.
While several Asian and European airlines, including Lufthansa and Ryanair, have oil hedging in place, securing a part of their fuel supplies at fixed prices, Finnair warned that even the availability of fuel could be at risk if the conflict dragged on. Kuwait, a major jet fuel exporter to north-west Europe, has faced output cuts.
“A prolonged crisis could affect not only the price of fuel but also its availability, at least temporarily,” a Finnair spokesperson said, adding that it had not seen this happening yet. It had hedged over 80% of its first-quarter fuel purchases.
Airspace chaos in the Middle East
Highlighting the airspace chaos in the Middle East, planes arriving in Dubai were briefly placed in a holding pattern on Tuesday due to a potential missile attack, flight tracking service Flightradar24 said on X. The planes eventually landed.
Qantas said in addition to increasing international fares, it was exploring options to redeploy capacity to Europe as airlines and passengers seek to evade disruptions in the Middle East, where drone and missile fire have curtailed flights.
Airfares have soared on Asia-Europe routes due to airspace closures and capacity constraints, and Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways said on Tuesday it was adding extra flights to London and Zurich in March.
Air New Zealand said it had raised one-way economy fares by NZ$10 ($6) on domestic routes, NZ$20 on short-haul international services and NZ$90 on long-haul, with more adjustments to prices and schedules possible if jet fuel costs remain elevated.
Hong Kong Airlines said on its website it would raise its fuel surcharges by up to 35.2% from Thursday, with the sharpest increase on flights between Hong Kong and the Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Airline shares stabilise after sell off
Some airline stocks rose and oil prices fell to around $90 a barrel on Tuesday from a high of $119 on Monday after US President Donald Trump said on Monday the war could be over soon.
When markets opened in Europe, airline shares were up between 4% and 7%. In Asia, airline shares showed signs of stabilising, with Qantas closing up 0.5%, Korean Air Lines rising 3% and Cathay Pacific up 3.6%. All had recorded sharp declines on Monday.
Fuel is the second-largest expense for air carriers after labour, typically accounting for a fifth to a quarter of operating expenses.
Conflicts shrinking available airspace
In addition to high fuel costs, tightening airspace also threatens to derail the global travel industry, as pilots reroute to avoid the Middle East conflict and capacity on popular routes fills up.
Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad typically jointly account for about one-third of the passenger traffic between Europe and Asia and fly more than half of all passengers from Europe to Australia, New Zealand and nearby Pacific Islands, according to Cirium.
European airlines have already struggled with the shortage of available airspace created by the war in Ukraine, with many avoiding Russian airspace and flying longer international routes. Now, with even less available airspace, they say their business has become even more challenging.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Wednesday he encourages Britain’s King Charles to return the Koh-e-Noor Diamond, with his comments coming during the British monarch’s ongoing US visit.
“If I were to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-e-Noor Diamond,” Mamdani, who is Indian American, said when asked at a press conference hours before a ceremony that commemorated victims of the deadly September 11, 2001, attacks.
Later in the day, the king spoke with Mamdani at the ceremony. Buckingham Palace declined to comment. Mamdani’s office did not respond to a request to comment on whether Mamdani brought up the issue with the king.
India has previously repeatedly demanded that Britain return the 105-carat diamond.
Britain’s then colonial governor-general of India arranged for the huge diamond to be presented to Queen Victoria in 1850 after the East India Company had annexed the region of Punjab in 1849 and taken the diamond from a deposed Indian leader.
Charles on Wednesday commemorated victims of the September 11, 2001, attack on New York City, laying a floral bouquet at the memorial where the World Trade Centre’s twin towers once stood.
India received independence from British rule in 1947. The British colonisation of India and the widespread atrocities committed against people during that period remain sensitive issues in the country.
India has previously said the diamond was a “valued piece of art with strong roots in our nation’s history.” The diamond’s possession by the British is seen by many Indians as a symbol of colonial atrocities during British rule.
The diamond has been previously owned by India’s Mughal emperors, shahs of Iran, emirs of Afghanistan, and Sikh maharajas, according to the Historic Royal Palaces charity.
China’s AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, the maker of J-10C aircraft used by Pakistan to down India’s French-made planes in May last year, has reported a significant surge in profits, according a report by Bloomberg.
Revenue increased by 15.8% to 75.4 billion yuan ($11 billion) in 2025, with profit up 6.5% to 3.4 billion yuan in 2025, the publication cited the jetmaker as saying in a statement.
The numbers are the highest-ever for the company, Bloomberg reported, adding that Chengdu’s first-quarter sales rose almost 80% on year.
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) inducted J-10C in March 2022, in a major boost to the country’s military capabilities to defend airspace.
At the time, the government said that the fighter jet could carry more advanced, fourth-generation air-to-air missiles, including the short-range PL-10 and the beyond-visual-range PL-15.
The fighter jet saw its first combat use in May 2025 when India launched an unprovoked attack on Pakistan on May 6, following an attack on tourists in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan, during the 87-hour conflict, downed seven Indian fighter jets, including French-made Rafale, and dozens of drones.
The four-day war saw Pakistan successfully employing the Chinese-made HQ-9 air-defence system, PL-15 air-to-air missiles, and J-10C fighter aircraft, credited with downing multiple Indian aircraft.
The PAF also used its JF-17 Thunder jets to destroy India’s S-400 air defence system in Adampur by using hypersonic missiles.
The war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.
Months after the conflict, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry praised the performance of Chinese-made weapons, saying they performed “exceptionally well. “Of course, lately, recent Chinese platforms, they’ve demonstrated exceptionally well,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said in an interview in October last year.
In November last year, a report presented to the United States Congress acknowledged Pakistan’s “military success over India” in the war.
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission report — reviewing US-China security and foreign affairs — stated that Pakistan employed advanced Chinese weaponry to enhance its military edge over India.
- Revenue up by 15.8% to 75.4 billion yuan in 2025: report.
- Company’s profits up by 6.5% to 3.4 billion yuan in 2025.
- Chengdu sales in first-quarter rose almost 80% on year.
China’s AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, the maker of J-10C aircraft used by Pakistan to down India’s French-made planes in May last year, has reported a significant surge in profits, according a report by Bloomberg.
Revenue increased by 15.8% to 75.4 billion yuan ($11 billion) in 2025, with profit up 6.5% to 3.4 billion yuan in 2025, the publication cited the jetmaker as saying in a statement.
The numbers are the highest-ever for the company, Bloomberg reported, adding that Chengdu’s first-quarter sales rose almost 80% on year.
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) inducted J-10C in March 2022, in a major boost to the country’s military capabilities to defend airspace.
At the time, the government said that the fighter jet could carry more advanced, fourth-generation air-to-air missiles, including the short-range PL-10 and the beyond-visual-range PL-15.
The fighter jet saw its first combat use in May 2025 when India launched an unprovoked attack on Pakistan on May 6, following an attack on tourists in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan, during the 87-hour conflict, downed seven Indian fighter jets, including French-made Rafale, and dozens of drones.
The four-day war saw Pakistan successfully employing the Chinese-made HQ-9 air-defence system, PL-15 air-to-air missiles, and J-10C fighter aircraft, credited with downing multiple Indian aircraft.
The PAF also used its JF-17 Thunder jets to destroy India’s S-400 air defence system in Adampur by using hypersonic missiles.
The war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.
Months after the conflict, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry praised the performance of Chinese-made weapons, saying they performed “exceptionally well,” The News reported, citing Bloomberg.
“Of course, lately, recent Chinese platforms, they’ve demonstrated exceptionally well,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said in an interview in October last year.
In November last year, a report presented to the United States Congress acknowledged Pakistan’s “military success over India” in the war.
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission report — reviewing US-China security and foreign affairs — stated that Pakistan employed advanced Chinese weaponry to enhance its military edge over India.
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