TORONTO – Air Canada is telling its customers to go ahead and book those summer travel flights, without worry of cancellations or delays, due to the jet fuel shortage.
In an email sent to both customers and CTV News, Air Canada said it is fully expecting to operate its current summer schedule.
“There is no fuel shortage affecting our operations, including across Europe, and we do not anticipate any significant impact through the summer,” said the email statement, adding that the airline has a “diversified and sophisticated” fuel supply in place.
In early May, Air Canada announced it was stopping service to some U.S. destinations, like Austin and Sacramento, because of soaring jet fuel prices. They also suspended routes in April from Canadian cities to JFK airport in New York.
In an emailed statement to CTV News, Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said the message to customers was sent to reassure them.
“We sent this because there has been ongoing coverage of this issue and we wanted to reassure our customers, both those who have bought tickets and have trips coming up and those still considering travelling,” said Fitzpatrick.
Airlines began cutting back and suspending flights earlier this year due to the conflict between Iran, Israel and the U.S., which caused the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil-shipping corridor, which limited the movement of refined fuel exports.
Last week, Lufthansa said in a press release that their “fuel supply is stable” and that the German-based airline does not anticipate the ongoing Middle East conflict to cause further flight cancellations.
“There are no signs from our suppliers that fuel supply will be at risk this summer,” said Lufthansa Group COO Dieter Vranckx in the online post, adding that their partner airlines also plan on operating with a “near-complete flight schedule during this year’s peak season.”
In April, Lufthansa announced roughly 20,000 short-haul flight reductions across its summer schedule through October, driven by surging jet fuel costs associated with the conflict in Iran, adding that represents about one per cent of the group’s total summer capacity.
