“There is no fuel shortage affecting our operations,” says Air Canada

Air Canada is setting the record straight with customers, sharing in an email Tuesday (June 2) that it is not running low on fuel and will operate its summer schedule as planned.

“Please be assured that we are fully expecting to operate our current summer schedule. While global fuel markets remain dynamic, Air Canada has a diversified and sophisticated fuel supply in place,” the email reads.

“There is no fuel shortage affecting our operations, including across Europe, and we do not anticipate any significant impact through the summer.”

“Even more importantly, because we’ve built such an extraordinary roster of destinations across Europe, we want you to feel just as confident as we are when you book your travel.”

The message comes amid ongoing headlines about the global fuel supply and its impact on travel to Europe.

The price of jet fuel has roughly doubled since the outbreak of the US–Israel conflict involving Iran, as disruptions in the Middle East have affected production and supply routes.

The situation has forced many European airlines (and carriers in Canada) to trim schedules and cancel seasonal routes earlier than expected.

“Summer’s good to go,” says Lufthansa

Echoing Air Canada’s message, Lufthansa Group’s Chief Commercial Officer Dieter Vranckx, in an interview last week, said the world’s concerns about a fuel shortage in Europe in the coming months are largely unfounded.

"There are no signs from our suppliers that fuel supply will be at risk this summer,” Vranckx said in a recent interview, shared on the airline’s website.

The company’s summer flight operations are not expected to face any disruption from fuel supply issues across Lufthansa’s six European hubs, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels and Rome, he said.

The Lufthansa Group consists of Lufthansa SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and ITA Airways.

Just under a quarter of jet fuel shipments destined for Europe need to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has restricted during the conflict with Iran, said Vranckx.

“To compensate for any shortfalls in those deliveries, imports are now increasingly reaching us from other continents — for example from North America and Africa. In addition, European refineries have ramped up their jet fuel production to maximum capacity,” he said.

And if the crisis in the Middle East were to cause further flight cancellations after all?

“We do not anticipate that,” he said. “Should fuel shortages occur contrary to expectations, and flights be cancelled as a result, the customer has a choice: either they are rebooked, or they receive a full refund of the ticket price as a 'money-back' guarantee — it's that simple.”

“These cancellation and rebooking rules apply without restriction to all airlines in the Group.”

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