Tui has assured holidaymakers that their peak summer flights will go ahead, despite fears of aviation fuel shortages caused by the Iran conflict.
Mathias Kiep, CFO of Tui Group, told The Independent: “I’m very much convinced that we will see no shortage in the next 10 weeks. There’s definitely enough fuel.”
Speaking as Europe’s biggest holiday company reported its financial results for October 2025-March 2026, he said: “We think that the discussion on fuel is a little bit artificial as we do see no shortages for the next few weeks.
“I would also see no impact in the summer at all except prices – and for the higher prices, we are luckily hedged.
“We do see that Europe now gets more oil from other countries like Nigeria because the increased prices made the production there profitable. We see that consumption is significantly lower than a year before and refinery capacity is also up.”
He said that even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed in the long term, there will be no shortage.
A government spokesperson said: “UK airlines are clear that they are not currently seeing a shortage of jet fuel. Aviation fuel is typically bought in advance and airports and suppliers keep stocks of bunkered fuel to support their resilience.
“We continue to work with fuel suppliers, airports, airlines and international counterparts to keep flights operating.”
Tui reported a “very successful” first half of its financial year between October 2025 and March this year. But it has warned that the second half “will require great dedication and flexibility”.
The war in Iran delivered a €40m (£35m) hit to profits – due to a combination of lost sales and the extra costs of bringing back holidaymakers from the Middle East and Asia.
In addition, Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica cost the company €5m (£4.3m).
Sebastian Ebel, chief executive of the Tui group, said: “We offer our customers a high level of security and quality, especially in turbulent times. The package holiday remains the gold standard.”
The occupancy rate on Tui cruises fell from 97 to 93 per cent due to the war in Iran. Two ships from the German cruise operation were stuck in the Gulf for 10 weeks.
Air bookings for the summer are 7 per cent below last year. The firm said people were happy to book two or three weeks in advance, but not two or three months.
Tui has seen no decline in the intention to travel, and no shift from air to surface transport. The hantavirus scare has had no impact on cruise demand.
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