Scandinavia’s SAS airline is canceling nearly 1,200 flights in May as it braces for soaring jet fuel prices as a result of the closure of the Straits of Hormuz.
Scandinavia’s SAS airline is canceling nearly 1,200 flights in May as it braces for soaring jet fuel prices as a result of the closure of the Straits of Hormuz.
“We’re undertaking adjustments on certain routes, primarily those where there is a chance of rebooking, in order to maintain flexibility for our customers,” the airline’s head of press, Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji, wrote in a press release.
The airline said it was taking early action to prioritize summer holiday travel, so that those who had booked can plan their journeys this summer without having to worry.
“Affected customers will be informed directly with clear information and an offer of alternate departures as soon as possible,” the airline said.
According to the Danish travel website, Check-in.dk, SAS has canceled nearly 1,200 flights in May, reducing its total number of planned departures from 24,805 to 23,633.
This comes after the airline canceled 1,000 flights in April.
The airline industry has seen jet fuel costs soar since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on March 4th, blocking a fifth of the world’s oil supplies, leading to a wave of cancellations. The German airline Lufthansa announced on April 21st that it would cancel 20,000 departures between then and October.
Sweden’s Energy and Business Minister, Ebba Busch, told the Swedish news agency TT that fuel shortages should be expected even if the US and Iran reach a peace deal that leads to the strait being reopened to tanker traffic.
“Even if we were to reach a sustainable peace agreement tomorrow, it could take a while before the supply of oil and gas is restored,” she said.
The Confederation of Danish Industries said that the SAS cancellations would not be the first.
“You can expect more cancellations during the summer, but it will mainly concern routes for which there are already a lot of departures,” said Mathias Milling, who is the head of the secretariat of the Danish Aviation Industry Association, in a written comment to the Ritzau newswire. “So your summer vacation is not in question here.”
