Holiday-makers face travel disruption with Aer Lingus to carry out maintenance on aircraft
Tens of thousands of holiday-makers face travel disruption this summer with Aer Lingus set to cancel or reschedule about 2 per cent of its flights as it carries out what it describes as “mandatory maintenance” on aircraft.Hundreds of flights will be affected on the airline’s summer schedule against the backdrop of a significant jet fuel shortage due to the war in the Gulf. However, the airline said the “vast majority” of its customers will be “re-accommodated on same day services”.“Aer Lingus has commenced operating its planned summer schedule,” it said on Sunday. “A number of recent cancellations have been required due to mandatory maintenance on aircraft, along with a limited number of schedule adjustments. READ MOREA Dubliner in South Africa: ‘I often leave the keys in the car. I couldn’t do that in Dublin’What tax bill will we face selling sites that our father gave us years ago?‘We were quite badly affected’: Irish businesses count the cost of fuel protests and blockadesHow PTSB came back from a near-death experience to challenge AIB and Bank of Ireland“Schedule changes apply to approximately 2 per cent of Aer Lingus’ overall schedule. Where schedule adjustments are being made, the vast majority of customers are being re-accommodated on same day services.”The airline declined to comment on exactly how many flights and which routes would be affected.Willie Walsh, the Irishman who leads air travel’s main industry body, has said holidaymakers face possible flight cancellations from the end of May if the current squeeze on jet fuel supplies continues.Walsh predicted the cancellations on Friday as reports said that Iran had declared the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil and gas shipping lane, open to commercial vessels while its ceasefire with the US lasts.The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Europe has around six weeks of jet fuel left as a result of the conflict in the Middle East and the continued blockade of Hormuz.European travellers could see “some cancellations for lack of jet fuel” by the end of May, International Air Travel Association chief executive Walsh warned on Friday.“The IEA’s assessment of potential jet fuel shortages is sobering,” he added.He noted that Asian airlines were already cancelling flights.“Along with doing everything possible to secure alternative supply lines, it’s important that authorities have well-communicated and well-co-ordinated plans in place in case rationing becomes necessary,” he said.Walsh said this should include “slot relief”, an arrangement that would ensure airlines forced to cancel flights due to fuel shortages would not lose their take-off and landing slots at airports.IEA chief executive Fatih Birol confirmed that Asian carriers were on the front line, but warned that Europe and the Americas would begin to suffer if the conflict continued to limit supplies.Ryanair said this week that its suppliers could guarantee it enough jet fuel until sometime next month.The Irish airline, Europe’s biggest carrier, added that fuel could be in short supply after that if shipping does not resume in Hormuz.“If the war in Iran finishes soon, then supply will not be disrupted,” said Ryanair.
