Airlines have been given more flexibility to cancel or consolidate undersold flights as concerns mount over the rising price of jet fuel brought about by the US war with Iran.
The government is planning to introduce temporary measures to make scheduling more flexible for flight operators in order to minimise disruption to Britons planning to go on holiday in the summer. As well as moving passengers on to similar services much earlier, airlines will be able to cancel flights that have not sold a significant proportion of tickets in order to reduce wasted fuel from flying near-empty planes.
Under normal rules, airlines must use at least 80% of their allocated slots during a season to keep them for the following year. If they fall below this threshold, those slots can be reassigned to another airline. This is known as the ‘use it or lose it’ rule that could be temporarily scrapped under the new regime.
Jet fuel prices have nearly doubled since the start of the conflict; some of the world’s...