Airlines are lobbying the UK government to relax environmental and noise rules, modify passenger rights and cut taxes on flying, as they prepare for higher costs and a possible shortage of jet fuel because of the war in the Middle East.
A list of policy requests submitted to ministers and the aviation regulator includes suspending the emissions trading scheme and relaxing limits on night flights, it has emerged.
Airlines are also seeking to alter compensation rights for passengers by having fuel-related disruption counted as an extraordinary circumstances – meaning stranded passengers would not be entitled to payouts beyond refunds in the event of cancellations or delay.
The full list of demands has emerged in a briefing document, first reported by ITV News, prepared by the trade body Airlines UK on behalf of carriers including British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, Virgin, TUI and Jet2.
The briefing for government said that if the current disruption to jet fuel supplies continued or worsened, airlines would be forced to cut flights and push up fares.
It also repeated calls the sector has made publicly for the scrapping of air passenger duty and the alleviation of “use it or lose it” slot rules, last eased after the Covid pandemic, which would allow airlines to cancel flights without risking valuable rights to fly from major airports in future.
Although the aviation industry and the UK government insist there is no shortage of fuel and consumers can book with confidence, some airlines and observers believe supplies cannot be maintained for much longer while either Iran or the US blockade the strait of Hormuz.
Last week the head of the International Energy Agency said flight cancellations would come soon if oil supplies from the Middle East were not restored, adding that Europe had only six weeks of jet fuel left.
Among the industry requests in the document are dropping European standards on jet fuel to allow the import of Jet A from the US, currently not permitted owing to its higher freezing point, and requiring some UK refineries to prioritise producing jet fuel instead of petrol or diesel to safeguard supplies for flights.
The most concerning for the public living near airports or under flight paths could be a demand to “temporarily relax night flying restrictions” if schedules are disrupted.
The airlines have also included some long-held goals in the crisis management plan, including to “temporarily suspend the emissions trading scheme” to cut costs and “relieve the burden of air passenger duty (via reduction, rebate or APD holiday)”.
A spokesperson for Airlines UK said: “Airlines continue to operate normally and are not experiencing issues with jet fuel supply but as you would expect we remain in close contact with the Department for Transport given the current external environment.
“It is vital that government take the right actions now to ensure the continuation of supply, as well as support the UK aviation industry, which has been impacted by record high jet fuel prices, and that includes providing additional flexibility.”
They added: “Additional flexibility, should it be needed, would enable airlines to operate most efficiently to minimise any disruption to customers and maintain long-established global networks.”
On Tuesday Lufthansa announced it had cancelled 20,000 flights between May and October to save fuel, the Financial Times reported.
The German airline said it had cut about 120 daily flights from Monday and would drop unprofitable routes from Munich and Frankfurt until the end of the summer season, which runs to mid-October.
It said: “In total, 20,000 short-haul flights will be removed from the schedule through October, equivalent to approximately 40,000 metric tonnes of jet fuel, the price of which has doubled since the outbreak of the Iran conflict.”
Willie Walsh, the director general of the global airlines body Iata, said: “Along with doing everything possible to secure alternative supply lines, it’s important that authorities have well-communicated and well-coordinated plans in place in case rationing becomes necessary, including for slot relief.”
A government spokesperson said: “UK airlines are clear that they are currently not seeing a shortage of jet fuel.
“We continue to work with fuel suppliers, airlines and international counterparts on our contingency planning, to ensure people keep moving and businesses are supported while the conflict is ongoing.
“Our overriding priority is to de-escalate this conflict, open up the strait and prevent disruption to passengers.”
