Experts say the war in Iran is driving up the price of jet fuel, which in turn increases the cost of flying.
“I think what you’re seeing now is volatility in jet fuel that hasn’t been seen in years,” John Gradek, a former Air Canada executive and McGill University faculty lecturer in aviation management, told Global News.
“I think the volatility starts with the price of oil, where it was up to 110 (a barrel) last week, or earlier this week, down to 89 yesterday and back to 98 today. So it’s bouncing up and down. The impact on jet fuel is significant.”
The price of jet fuel has increased by about 30 percent, and the cost of fuel represents about 30 percent of an airline’s operating costs, Gradek said.
“The airlines margins you typically have are about three or four percent margin on their sales,” he said. “So right now, with fuel prices the way we’re seeing them, they’re losing money on every flight. So what’s happening is the airlines are trying to figure out how much of a fuel surcharge to put on.”
Air Transat has already started adding fuel surcharges to tickets, and British Airways and Qantas are introducing some on Thursday, Gradek said.
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“The world is starting to recognize that jet fuel is more expensive and prices are going up,” he said.
Other airlines are trying to figure out what to do to keep costs manageable but still profitable, Gradek said.
WestJet said in a statement on Wednesday that there would be a significant cost increase in fuel, but that Air Canada and Porter were considering what to do.
“At what level do you set your surcharge based on oil prices?” He said.
“And the price of oil is bouncing all over the place. So it’s a moving target for them, actually, to set fuel surcharges. But the longer they wait, the more money they lose. So they really need to get a handle on this very quickly.”
Wayne Smith, professor and director of the Hospitality and Tourism Research Institute, said fuel surcharges are inevitable at this point.
“We’ve seen fuel prices go from basically about 76 cents a liter to over $1.30 a liter since December,” he said.
“People don’t realize that fuel is a big, big part of an airline. So I’ll give you a quick example here. A Boeing 777, just to take off, burns 2,200 liters of fuel. So if you’re looking at that, that’s $2,800, about $2,900, a big part just for take off and fuel.”
Smith said airlines are trying to lower their prices, but passengers can expect fuel surcharges on their bill.
“If you don’t see it in the price, you’ll see it later in the surcharge,” he added.
Ashley, a travel consultant at FlightCenter Travel Group, told Herald Global News that travelers will see a wide range of prices depending on the destination, time and competition on the route.
“At the moment, we’re seeing Canadians focusing more on their travel plans and where their dollar can be stretched,” he said.
“That’s what we’re looking at. And for people who have a specific budget that they’re hoping to stay within, we encourage them to seek out an expert like a travel agent to see where they can get their budget to stretch the Canadian dollar further.”
Gradek said he hopes people will choose to fly in Canada and North America now, but the future is uncertain.
“The surcharges they’re looking for on Canadian traffic are probably $50 and $100 one-way surcharges,” he said.
“Once I get to Europe, it’s probably $100 to $200 one way. And by the time I get to Asia, it’s probably about $300 to $400 one way, so that’s a typical distribution of how these fuel surcharges have been dealt with in the past. So I don’t expect any different measures to come in.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
(tags to translate)Iran war
