Airline Cancels Flights to JFK Amid Hormuz Chaos

A looming jet fuel shortage in Europe and Asia could compound the Iran war's impact on world travel within weeks if a fragile agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz totally collapses, making higher airfares and flight cancellations even more likely as the summer travel season approaches, reports the AP. Crude oil prices plunged Friday after Iran's foreign minister said tankers and other commercial vessels could again pass unimpeded through the narrow waterway off the country's coast that serves as a conduit for about one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas. On Saturday, Iran reinstituted its restrictions on the waterway.

US President Trump has said the US will continue its blockade of Iranian ships entering or leaving the strait until Washington and Tehran reached a deal to end the war, which started Feb. 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran. The oil market is expected to take months to recover from shipment disruptions, and fuel prices typically take longer to fall than prices for crude. In a sign of the conflict's ongoing repercussions for airlines and their passengers, Air Canada said on Friday it was canceling service to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport between June and October due to surging jet-fuel costs.

Jet fuel is airlines' biggest cost, making up about 30% of overall expenses, per the International Air Transport Association. And jet fuel prices have roughly doubled since the war began; shortages could start next. In a Thursday interview, International Energy Agency Director Fatih Birol said Europe had "maybe six weeks" of remaining jet-fuel supplies. In general, some European countries hold several months' worth of jet fuel inventory at a time, per an IEA report. Airline officials have largely reacted with caution, acknowledging potential fuel issues but working to reassure customers. Still, some carriers have already passed costs on to consumers by increasing fees for baggage and other add-ons, embedding costs into ticket prices, or raising fuel surcharges. Much more here on the effects you might see in your own travels.