Millions of holidaymakers face having their summer break plans thrown into doubt after an energy chief warned that Europe could run out of jet fuel in six weeks.
Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency, predicted that there would be flight cancellations “soon” if the oil crisis sparked by Iran largely closing the Strait of Hormuz is not resolved quickly.
“I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be cancelled as a result of lack of jet fuel,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press.
He added that Europe had “maybe six weeks or so jet fuel left.”
Laying out the scale of the threat to the global economy from Donald Trump’s war, Mr Birol stressed: “In the past there was a group called Dire Straits,.
“It’s a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy.
“The longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world.”
Airlines have already warned that ticket prices will rise due to the Iran war.
Britons have also been told by the Foreign Office that their flights to destinations around the world could be delayed or cancelled as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.
EasyJet announced the war cost it about £25 million in higher jet fuel prices last month.
The Luton-based airline said it expects to report a headline loss before tax of between £540 million and £560 million for the six months to the end of March.
Amid the concerns that airlines will be forced to cancel flights because of jet fuel shortages, easyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis said all the airports it serves are “operating as normal”.
He went on: “We only ever in this industry have three to four weeks visibility (of jet fuel supplies), and that is the same as it was pre-crisis.
“We have visibility to the middle of May, and we have no concerns.
“What we’re seeing is airports and fuel suppliers working well to bring jet fuel to the airports.”
Ministers have been planning for a series of worst case scenarios if the biggest supply shock to the oil industry is not resolved by June.
Sir Keir Starmer has been chairing a series of meetings to prepare for shortages, including supermarkets offering less choice on their shelves.
Tesco said prices and availability in its stores had so far not been impacted by the war.
A shortage of CO2, which is crucial to preserve products, could hit the food industry.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle told how he had un-mothballed a CO2 plant to address the challenge.
Asked about the availability of CO2, he told Sky News: “At this moment, this is not a concern for the economy.”
He added: “If any of these things change, I will be up front with the public about it in advance so that we can prepare.“
CO2 is also used for MRI scanning, water purification, the nuclear industry, and defence projects.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was “confident” that NHS supplies were secure despite disruption caused by the war in Iran.
Asked about contingency planning by the Government for shortages of some products, he told LBC: “As we stand here today, I am confident about the resilience of the NHS supply chain.
”But with most of the ambulance fleet running on diesel, he added: “I have a degree of anxiety around things like diesel costs.”
Asked whether the Government had a plan to prioritise ambulances in the event of fuel shortages, he said: “The Government does do contingency planning, we do do that prioritisation.”
He added: “The likelihood of us needing to activate these worst case scenario plans is reassuringly low.”
Petrol and diesel prices have risen sharply in Britain in the economic fallout from the war.
Mortgage rates have also gone up and energy bills could soar by hundreds of pounds in the autumn.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has signalled that its Monetary Policy Committee will not “rush” to raise interest rates amid the economic turmoil.
Trump has raised hopes that new direct talks with Tehran could take place within days to turn the fragile ceasefire into an end to the confllict.
