KLM cancels over 150 flights due to the soaring price of fuel

KLM has cancelled more than 150 European flights due to the rising cost of jet fuel.

The Dutch airline will not operate 80 return flights out of Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport over the next month.

The flights are “currently no longer financially viable to operate” due to rising kerosene costs, said KLM.

Jet fuel prices have soared since the start of the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran as increases in global oil prices filter through to aviation.

KLM added that adjustments to its flight schedule are not due to a jet fuel shortage, but cost-saving measures.

Impacted passengers will be booked onto the next available flight, with those travelling to London and Düsseldorf “accommodated quickly” on one of several daily flights.

According to KLM, the cancelled flights make up less than one per cent of the airline’s European flights over the coming month.

The carrier said: “KLM expects a busy May holiday period and is making sure passengers can travel to their holiday destinations as planned.”

On 9 April, the airline confirmed the cancellation of all flights to and from Dubai until 14 June due to “uncertainties” in the Middle East.

KLM flights to both Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia will also not be operated until at least 16 May.

As for airlines in the UK, Airlines UK, which represents all the main carriers, has said: “UK airlines are currently not seeing disruption to jet fuel supply”.

The trade association says this is “in part due to the UK’s diverse fuel supply”. The industry is continuing “to engage with fuel suppliers and government to monitor the situation”, reported The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder.

Speaking on Thursday morning, easyJet boss Kenton Jarvis stressed: “We have visibility [on the availability of aviation fuel] to the middle of May and have no concerns.”

Read more: Which airlines have cancelled flights to the Middle East?