Major airline cancels UK flights as 9 airports affected – full list

A major airline is cancelling hundreds of flights from its summer schedule. It has been reported that “more than 500” Aer Lingus flights are being cut due to “mandatory maintenance on aircraft”.

The Independent obtained internal Aer Lingus documents showing the airline is axing scheduled transatlantic flights on various days. “A limited number” of adjustments have been made to the schedule, it was also reported.

The Irish newspaper also said that flights from Dublin to European airports -including Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Faro and Zurich are to be removed from the schedule on selected dates.

Flights to London Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh will also be cancelled, and passengers are being booked onto other services.

The Daily Express has contacted Aer Lingus for details and comment. Recently, due to the war in the Middle East and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, several airlines were forced to make changes to their schedule and many flights were cancelled.

Major airlines, including Virgin Atlantic, have confirmed cancellations amid warnings that Europe only has six weeks’ supply of jet fuel because of the Middle East conflict. Virgin confirmed that it was scrapping flights from London to Riyadh in April, just a year after the route was launched, citing “the latest intelligence, regulatory guidance, demand and operating costs”.

The German Lufthansa group said this week that it would ground 27 passenger planes in its regional subsidiary, taking immediate effect, and Dutch airline KLM confirmed it would cancel 160 flights in Europe over the coming month.

Two other major airlines also said they have increased their ticket prices as the war in the Middle East keeps pushing fuel costs up.

Air France and KLM have become the latest carriers to confirm increased ticket prices due to the war. The airlines, both part of the Air France–KLM group, had already introduced a surcharge last month to counterbalance spiralling jet fuel prices. At that point, economy tickets were increased by an additional €50 (£43.47) for a return journey.

Now a long-haul return trip with Air France or KLM could incur an extra €50, taking the fuel surcharge to €100 (£86.98) on top of the base fare. Meanwhile, flights to the United States, Canada and Mexico could rise by €70 (£60.89), while an economy return ticket could cost an additional €10 (£8.70), the Mirror reported.

A KLM spokesperson said: “The current geopolitical context in the Middle East has led to a sharp and sudden increase in fuel prices, particularly for jet fuel. As a result, Air France and KLM have increased the fares for tickets:

“In Economy class on long-haul flights, fares have been increased by €100 per round trip (€70 for flights to the United States, Canada and Mexico). For short- and medium-haul flights in Economy class, fares have been increased by €10 per return.”