European summer holidays could be at threat, we are told, with airlines warning that due to a possible shortage of jet fuel, flights will have to be grounded and routes redesigned. Really? I was once informed by the CEO of one of Europe’s leading airlines, low cost may I add, that in their case at least, they purchased the bulk of their jet fuel a year in advance in the event of a crisis further down the runway.
If that was and is the case, how is it that airlines do not appear to have had any contingency plans for the current Middle East crisis? As the Bulletin was informed last week, some 50 percent of Mallorca’s hotel beds have yet to be booked for this summer and that is probably the case for many other “safe” Mediterranean destinations.
So, is this a ploy by the airlines, especially those with their own tour operators, to frighten consumers and push them into early booking? I would have thought that potential holidaymakers, especially those with families, who have not booked yet are worried enough as it is about the global climate, are also having to watch their cash.
Many families are financially worse off than they were before the war broke out and don’t have the same disposable income. So, will people take gamble on a holiday which, according to the airlines, may never take off? Or they might go to the Caribbean, it’s cheaper than Mallorca!