Rising fuel prices lash airline sector as Iran conflict widens

HONG KONG/DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters): Airline shares seesawed on Thursday, as some regained ground on more flights ​taking off from the Middle East while others dipped on spiking oil prices after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran sparked major disruption across the global aviation industry.

 

Governments have scrambled to ‌arrange flights out of the Middle East for tens of thousands of citizens stranded by the intensifying conflict, which has closed most of the region's airspace due to the risk of missiles hitting planes.

Takeoffs from Dubai International Airport more than doubled on Wednesday, the latest data from Flightradar24 show, as activity slowly restarts at the world's busiest travel hub, which was brought to a near standstill amid the conflict.

 

Traffic remains far below normal levels, with global aviation disruption likely to take some time ​to normalize as the conflict shows little sign of easing. Air cargo has also been hit, disrupting the movement of perishables and aircraft parts.

 

"The past few days have been unprecedented," Dubai Airports CEO ​Paul Griffiths said on Thursday on LinkedIn in his first public remarks since the airstrikes began, adding that teams were pulling together and "navigating with confidence".