Airlines raise ticket prices as Middle East conflict drives up fuel costs

• Jet fuel rates go up to $150-200 from $85-90 per barrel• Iran war sparks fears of deep travel slump, widespread grounding of planes

HONG KONG: 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.

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, which had hedged over 80 per cent of its........

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