Airlines recommend buying holiday flights as soon as possible

BarcelonaThe war in Iran has fully impacted the aviation sector. With the main Persian Gulf airports threatened and fuel prices soaring, airlines advise purchasing summer tickets with the maximum possible margin to avoid price increases. "The recommendation, as always, is that if you know you will travel this summer, buy as soon as possible," stressed the president of the Association of Airlines (ALA), Javier Gándara, this Tuesday.

The employers' association, which represents 85% of air traffic in Spain, has described the current situation as "the highest level of uncertainty ever," although it has not specified how much tickets may increase in price. "Prices are set by the interaction of supply and demand: it will depend on how demand evolves and also on how families' disposable income is affected," stated Gándara.

What is clear is that fuel is one of the main costs for airlines, representing up to a quarter of their expenses. To this end, some airlines are announcing that ticket prices will increase, as the low-cost airline Easy Jet or the Air France-KLM group have already stated. In this regard, Gándara, who is also the general director of EasyJet for Southern Europe, has indicated that the cost of kerosene has skyrocketed since the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East. If previously, the metric ton —the unit of measurement for aircraft fuel— was around 700 dollars, it has now risen to 1,500 dollars.

For now, this item has more than doubled, but ALA emphasizes that Spain has a better kerosene supply than other markets. According to the employers' association's data, of all the kerosene imported, only 11% comes from the conflict zone, unlike other countries with greater dependence. "The supply is guaranteed," Gándara defended.

With this message, airlines want to dispel tourists' doubts amidst the alarm of a possible kerosene shortage due to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, the historical figure of kerosene consumption in Spain in 2025 is explained by the increase in flights and especially international flights. "It is the result of air traffic increasing by between 5 and 6%," recalls Antoni Peris, the vice-president of the Energy Commission of the College of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia in a conversation with ARA. Furthermore, it is compounded by the fact that airports such as Barajas in Madrid or El Prat have consolidated as

hubs

, adds the engineer: "They are a hub for South America and Asia, and therefore, they operate flights that require more kerosene." The expert recalls that although Europe has a plan to replace kerosene with an alternative fuel like SAF, which is more "neutral," "companies are barely in the process of incorporating it."

In any case, the Spanish government and the oil sector have also wanted to send a message of reassurance regarding the "guarantee" of the supply of this fuel because Spanish refineries produce 80% of the kerosene consumed in the country.

Safe destination

In this context, Spain and other Mediterranean destinations are positioning themselves as some of the safest, which will lead more tourists to opt for spending their holidays there. A conjunctural effect that the sector already detected with episodes like the Arab Spring.

For the moment, airlines do not foresee cancellations and have scheduled almost 260 million seats for this summer season, which began in April and will extend until October. A figure that represents a growth of almost 6% compared to last year.

In the case of Barcelona airport, the foreseen increase in seats will be 7.6%, despite the infrastructure being at maximum activity, especially during peak hours in the summer months. "There are still time slots and days with capacity to grow," stated Gándara. Given this limitation in flight capacity, airlines, as EasyJet is doing, are opting to bring larger planes to Barcelona, with more seats, and thus continue to grow.