Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson has blamed “foolish leaders” starting wars for rising flight prices, linking the conflict involving Iran to higher oil and jet fuel costs.
Middle East tensions have disrupted the production and transportation of oil, pushing up the price of fuels used by cars and aircraft. Virgin Atlantic introduced a fuel surcharge in May in response.
Branson said the conflict was unnecessary and criticised the abandonment of a nuclear agreement negotiated under former US President Barack Obama and European countries.
“The Iran conflict was completely unnecessary,” he told the BBC. “It was working, so there was no need to rip it up... And this war has just resulted in much higher oil prices all over the world. And inflation has been one of the consequences.”
The European benchmark jet fuel price had been around $800 (£590) a tonne before rising to more than $1,800 in April after the conflict began. It has since fallen to about $1,450.
Virgin Atlantic added £50 to economy fares, £180 to premium fares and £360 to business-class fares. The airline’s chief executive, Corneel Koster, said surcharges were “absolutely required” at the current fuel-price level.
Koster said Virgin Atlantic did not expect to make major changes to its winter schedule. The airline expects to operate 95% of its regular schedule, although it could reduce capacity on routes with low demand during the winter.
Ryanair has said it will reduce its winter schedule because of higher fuel prices. It also warned that European short-haul fares could “increase materially” if jet fuel prices remain elevated until next summer.
Virgin Atlantic announced the comments as it confirmed that it had secured a contract to fly Team GB and ParalympicsGB to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The airline took the contract from British Airways, which had held it since the 2008 Games in Beijing.
The BBC said it had contacted the White House for comment.
