British airlines will be allowed to cancel flights several weeks in advance if they are affected by fuel shortages this summer, writes The Guardian.  

Companies can ”consolidate” flights on routes with multiple daily departures, without losing valuable take-off and landing slots. Holiday travel should be prioritised over business travel. 

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has severely reduced the availability of jet fuel in Europe. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned of an acute fuel shortage if the strait remains closed for a prolonged period. 

The UK government has drawn up a contingency plan allowing British airlines to cancel flights several weeks in advance without losing allocated take-off and landing slots if they suffer fuel shortages this summer, writes The Guardian. 

Airlines will be allowed to ”merge” flights on routes with multiple departures on the same day, in order to save fuel. Passengers who, for example, were scheduled to fly at 08:00 in the morning may be rebooked to a 12:00 departure instead. 

The plans were drawn up at a meeting between politicians, representatives from Heathrow and Gatwick, and executives from British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Easyjet. 

Business travel is not being prioritised.

Holiday travel should take priority over business travel, says travel journalist Simon Calder to BBC. He uses the German aviation giant Lufthansa as an example and states that the company has ten flights a day between London Heathrow and Frankfurt. 

– In the middle of summer, there are not that many business travellers, so Lufthansa could say that we are cancelling two or three of these (services, our note), says Calder to the television company, continuing:   

The idea is that it would save fuel for those flying from Manchester to the Greek island of Skiathos, where there are no daily departures. 

Minister: Fewer last-minute flight cancellations

Airlines generally do not want to do this, as they risk losing valuable take-off and landing slots. If an airline cancels a certain percentage of scheduled departures, the allocated slots can be taken over by a competitor. 

The British government believes that the new plans reduce the risk of late flight cancellations and give airlines more flexibility to plan their schedules, the BBC continues. 

– The last thing I want is for a passenger to turn up at the gate and get a text message saying the flight has been cancelled, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the television company. 

Source: Expressen.se