LONDON, April 25, 2026, 22:03 BST
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA will raise ticket prices to reflect higher jet fuel costs, though it is not seeing jet-fuel supply interruptions, as the British Airways owner warned it was “not immune” to the wider fallout from the Iran-war fuel shock. An IAG spokesperson also sought government flexibility on airport slots — takeoff and landing rights that airlines normally must use to keep — to help carriers run more efficiently as costs rise. Reuters
This matters now because the fuel squeeze is no longer just an oil-market story. Brent crude settled at $105.33 a barrel on Friday and gained about 16% on the week, while movement through the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively blocked, with only five ships passing in the previous 24 hours, shipping data cited by Reuters showed.
For IAG, the timing is awkward. The group came into 2026 after a strong year, helped by transatlantic and premium-cabin demand, and is due to report first-quarter results on May 8; investors will now look for how much of the fuel hit can be recovered through fares before it dents margins.
Fuel hedges give airlines some cover but not a full shield. In plain terms, hedging means buying financial protection against future fuel-price moves; it can delay the pain, but it weakens as old contracts roll off and new costs come through.
IAG is not alone. Air France-KLM has moved to lift long-haul ticket prices, easyJet warned of a bigger half-year loss tied partly to fuel, and TUI cut its full-year profit outlook after extra costs from the war and operational disruption.
The shares showed the pressure. IAG was quoted at 377.10p to sell and 377.30p to buy on AJ Bell’s delayed London quote, down 1.62% on Friday; the FTSE 100 fell 0.75% the same day. AJ Bell listed IAG’s market value at about 16.91 billion pounds.
The company is a London-headquartered, Spanish-registered airline group whose brands include British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus, LEVEL, IAG Loyalty and IAG Cargo. Its shares trade in London and Spain, giving the fuel shock a read-through for both UK travel stocks and European aviation more broadly.
The group still has a demand cushion. Chief Executive Luis Gallego said in February that IAG had seen a rebound since the third quarter, with premium and corporate demand performing well at British Airways and bookings for the first quarter strong, Reuters reported at the time.
But the risk is that higher fares do not recover enough of the fuel bill, or that they cool price-sensitive demand just as summer travel builds. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne warned on Friday that a prolonged Strait of Hormuz disruption could push the world into a “scarcity of energy,” while French President Emmanuel Macron said the aim was a full reopening in coming days and weeks. Reuters
That leaves IAG with a narrow job: lift fares enough to protect earnings, without turning a fuel shock into a demand shock. The next hard read comes with first-quarter results, when investors will want less reassurance and more numbers.
