Spain’s Tourism Minister urges holidaymakers to book flights now to avoid paying more as oil prices surge

Spain’s Industry and Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu is urging travellers to book airline tickets as soon as possible to avoid paying more.

Mr Hereu is warning that rising oil prices triggered by the war in Iran could push airfares significantly higher in the coming months.

Oil prices have risen by around 50 percent since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on 28 February and it has added more than $100 to the price of long-haul flights from Europe, according to campaign group Transport & Environment.

Mr Hereu told Spanish newspaper Expansion on Monday (27 April): “What we’re recommending is that people buy their tickets now because airlines are currently using kerosene that was purchased some time ago, and therefore there’s an element of price fluctuations involved.

“It's already clear that prices have risen and this could affect demand”.

He added that ⁠Spanish and European authorities were taking measures to prevent fuel shortages.

Hereu said ⁠that Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, ⁠had a larger stock of kerosene and higher production capacity than ‌other countries.

But ​he warned: "If the countries ‌that send tourists to Spain had ​problems, we would have them too."

Airlines have begun to cut flights from their schedules due to fears of jet fuel supplies.

Air Transat, a low-cost Canadian airline, has cut six percent of its May-October flight schedule.

German group Lufthansa, has also just announced it is chopping 20,000 flights from its schedule through October, along with halting its regional feeder airline CityLine.

However, so far the impact on British passengers has been limited.

Airlines UK, representing the main carriers, says:“Airlines continue to operate normally and are not experiencing issues with jet fuel supply.”