With the price of oil and ready-to-use jet fuel up by more than 85% and showing no signs of coming down as the war in Iran continues, airlines are among the first to feel the blow to their cost of operations.
JetBlue Airways was the first major U.S. carrier to raise the cost of checked bags on domestic flights at the start of April, and United Airlines followed shortly after. Both cited “rising operating costs” and the cost of jet fuel.
As the conflict set off by the U.S.-Israeli killing of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spreads into a wider conflict throughout the region, analysts are warning that many smaller airlines may end up cutting flights to offset fuel expenses.
“Huge rise in global cost of fuel”: Skybus on canceled Cornwall-London route
On April 3, British regional airline Skybus temporarily canceled all of its flights on a route between Cornwall Airport Newquay (NQY) in the southwestern tip of the country and London Gatwick (LGW).
Skybus managing director Jonathan Hinkles named “the huge rise in the global cost of fuel” as the reason for the cut flight, which had already been scheduled to end at the end of May due to low bookings.
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The daily flight had been getting subsidies by the British government to connect a remote part of the country to the capital but ended up running up to 80% empty for much of the year.
“At a time of great economic uncertainty and steps being taken to conserve energy worldwide, it is neither environmentally nor economically sound for us to continue flying with vastly reduced passenger numbers,” Hinkles said in his press statement.
Skybus, which is the shortened form of “Isles of Scilly Skybus,” was established in 1984 to provide air service to the Cornish coast. The carrier took over the Newquay flight from regional competitor Eastern Airways when the latter collapsed in bankruptcy in October 2025.
Skybus
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Skybus will continue to run flights to remote U.K. destinations such as the Isles of Scilly, Exeter, and Land’s End, while travelers with canceled Newquay bookings will be contacted by the airline to initiate a refund.
Aurigny, another British regional carrier serving the Channel Islands, has also significantly reduced its flight schedule from Guernsey to London, classifying the changes as “proactive measures to address the impact of global instability,” The Independent reported.
At the start of April, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary warned that British airlines could be among the hardest hit by rising jet fuel prices, due to their greater reliance on oil from Kuwait.
The country’s airlines get up to 25% of their oil supply from the tiny Middle Eastern country, which has seen its oil refineries and other critical infrastructure targeted by Iranian drone and missile strikes.
Regional flights to remote territories, meanwhile, are some of the least cost-effective to run, as a result of lower demand.
Related: Airline shuts down in bankruptcy, runs last flight
