Concern has been rising as fuel costs rise more than 100% and BBC Morning Live viewers told ‘get one type of holiday’
A BBC expert has explained the shocking rise in jet fuel hitting UK airlines like British Airways, easyJet, Jet2.com, Ryanair, TUI and gave an update on how it could impact holiday flights. Speaking on BBC Morning Live today, consumer expert Rebecca Wilcox explained ‘new rules’ for passengers and said carriers were facing huge new costs.
She said although there are not big problems in terms of cancellations currently people ‘could be hit’ this year for their holidays. Ms Wilcox said airlines are working to make sure passengers are ‘not going to turn up at the airport and have that awful situation of your flights been cancelled.’
She said: “Despite some reports saying that the UK planes are being affected, we think it’s quite limited to the UK and the government is stepping in and helping airlines sort out this process, hopefully making it easier for the consumer to know whether their holiday is going to go ahead. But it’s worth remembering why this is happening. I mean, jet fuel price has gone up through the roof. It started in late February at about $838 a barrel and now it’s more than doubled to $1,800 in April.
“It’s slightly come down a bit again to $1,500, but it’s up and down all over the place. It’s very hard to predict what’s going to happen and this is a huge problem for airlines because of course, fuel was already one of their biggest costs and now that fuel is so expensive that their margins are really narrow
“Clearly this is a serious situation some carriers are also cutting flights months in advance hopefully so you don’t turn up to the airport your flight’s been cancelled and you know well in advance but it is happening all over the board so for instance German carrier Lufthansa they’ve cancelled around 20,000 flights from now until October and at the moment it’s more about airlines trying to get ahead of the situation so that you’re not going to turn up at the airport and have that awful situation of your flights been cancelled.”
She told viewers that there are new rules being proposed over flights, which could see some cancelled at short notice this summer. She said: “What the government is proposing is a temporary new rule and it’s to help airlines with a use it or lose it rule that airports have really busy airports make sure that airlines use their slots and they have to use 80% of those slots or risk losing that wonderful prime slot at a really big airport like Heathrow to one of their rival competitors
“It causes something called ghost flights. It’s technically awful because not only is it bad for the environment, but it also costs the airline millions. What it is is these empty planes or nearly empty planes are being flown out of the airports so that the airport is filling their rota of slots. They’re sticking with that 80% use it or lose it.
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“So, it’s costing the environment and it’s costing the airlines. And the government is saying, ‘Well, let’s reduce these. Let’s get rid of as many of these ghost flights as possible. Let’s take some of these really busy transfers like perhaps London to Edinburgh. That goes around 5 to 10 times a day. Let’s merge some of these. Let’s consolidate these. Let’s have busier planes, more people on a plane, no ghost flights’.”
The Government has also introduced a temporary rule change allowing airlines to group passengers from different flights together onto fewer planes to save fuel.
Asked if people should be worried about their summer holidays, Ms Wilcox said: “I’m afraid it’s not an easy answer. Potentially, it could do because what we’re seeing is airlines are warning about the higher ticket prices and the long-term schedule changes all because of fuel costs. British Airways’s parent company which is called International Airlines Group.
“It says its fuel bill could rise by £2 billion to up to £9 billion a year. And industry analysts estimate that that’s around going to add could add around 8% to some of the BA fairs because they’re going to have to pass on the cost or they risk collapse. Some flights are already being cancelled um as far ahead as autumn winter.
“Lufthansa have gone all the way to October, haven’t we? We just heard and the schedules are being reshaped so that disruption doesn’t happen immediately so that we’re all aware of what’s going to change so that we can plan and that’s what we’re saying. So, it’s important to stress airlines are still expecting the majority of flights to go ahead.”
She explained that people who book DIY holidays – hotel and flights separately – could be exposed if the flight is cancelled: “The majority of summer holidays will be okay. What I would say for consumers right now, the best thing to do is if you’re booking a DIY holiday, and by that I mean your flight and your hotel separately, check your cancellation terms really carefully. Consider a package holiday because you get stronger protections. And make sure you have as good travel assurance as you can possibly afford and book it ASAB – the moment you book it.”
