Airlines Must Reimburse Travelers for Cancellations Driven by High Fuel Prices, EU Says

European airlines will still be on the hook for customer reimbursements if they choose to cancel flights over rising fuel prices instigated by the U.S.-Iran war, the European Union’s (EU) transport commissioner said. 

In an interview with the Financial Times, Apostolos Tzitzikostas said that the current environment does not meet the threshold to absolve carriers from EU rules that protect customers through compensation.

“The price of jet fuel is the reason why we have cancellations of flights and if they cancel flights without extraordinary circumstances—jet fuel prices are not extraordinary circumstances—they will have to reimburse the people,” Tzitzikostas said.

He stated the only way the governing body would consider changing the rules was if the situation seriously deteriorated, adding that EU rules were malleable enough to fit the situation.  

In April, German airline Lufthansa announced that it would be cutting 20,000 short-haul flights in a bid to save roughly 40,000 metric tons of fuel. The cuts came across the airline’s six European hubs.

Tzitzikostas also cited the need to instill calm, not fear, in travelers in light of a busy European tourism season ahead. 

“We have a tourist season ahead of us,” he said. “We need to be careful with words we use and avoid causing panic.”