France readies airline rescue as European carriers cancel summer flights

France has unveiled an emergency aid package for its airlines as soaring jet fuel costs and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz force European carriers into the deepest summer schedule cuts since the pandemic.

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot confirmed last week that the government would defer social security contributions, extend tax payment deadlines, and grant carriers greater flexibility over fuel allowances to reduce direct operating costs. The measures follow a 6 May meeting with airline chief executives in Paris.

Low-cost operator Transavia has become the third European carrier, alongside Ryanair and Volotea, to announce flight cancellations in May and June, citing kerosene prices that have more than doubled since the Iran conflict began on 28 February. Globally, airlines have stripped roughly 13,000 flights and 2 million seats from May schedules in the past fortnight, according to Cirium, with Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, British Airways and KLM among the worst affected.

Up to 40 per cent of European jet fuel typically transits the Strait of Hormuz, the European Commission said, and the International Energy Agency warned in mid-April that the bloc had "maybe six weeks" of buffer stocks. ACI Europe has called on member states to suspend aviation taxes, with director general Olivier Jankovec describing France's recent tax increases as "the poster child of self-harm to a national aviation sector".

Airlines and the airports group are pressing Brussels to organise joint kerosene purchasing along the lines of the EU's pandemic-era mask procurement and the post-Ukraine gas scheme. The Commission has so far committed to enhanced supply monitoring and "maximising" refinery output, while warning that "collective action" may be needed to preserve the single market.

In the UK, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has suspended slot-use rules to allow carriers to cancel without penalty.