EU airlines must compensate passengers for cancelled flights due to high fuel prices, European Commissioner for Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tsitsikostas told the Financial Times (FT).
If flights are cancelled due to rising fuel prices “except in exceptional circumstances“, airlines “will have to compensate passengers“, Tsitsikostas said.
Airlines have cut around 2 million seats in the past 2 weeks, according to the publication. More than 12,000 flights have been cancelled. The reason for this is the shortage of kerosene due to supply disruptions amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, previously warned that Europe could run out of jet fuel within about six weeks. Several EU governments subsequently denied facing a jet fuel shortage.
Tsitsikostas acknowledged that “the situation is complex“, but said that EU regulations were flexible enough in the current environment. Brussels would only consider changing them if the situation seriously worsened, the European commissioner said. He warned against panicking about jet fuel shortages ahead of the peak tourist season. "We need to be careful with our choice of words and avoid panic," the source told the publication.
The European Commission will present draft "guidelines" for airlines and passengers this week in response to the conflict in the Middle East, according to the FT, which has seen the document. The publication said the EC's proposals "clarify existing rules" and do not contain any "new concessions to ease the industry's problems."