Aer Lingus cancels some flights from summer schedule

A number of Aer Lingus flights have been cancelled from its summer schedule due to what it has described as "mandatory maintenance on aircraft".

The airline said "a limited number" of adjustments have been made, adding that the "vast majority of customers" are being accommodated on same-day services.

It comes after the Sunday Independent reported that "more than 500" Aer Lingus flights are being cut.

The airline said the schedule changes apply to approximately 2% of Aer Lingus' overall schedule.

The Sunday Independent reported that flights from Dublin to European airports -including Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Faro and Zurich are to be removed from the schedule on a range of dates.

It also said that flights to London Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh will also be cancelled, with passengers booked on to other services.

On Thursday, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that Europe has "maybe six weeks of jet fuel left".

The Strait of Hormuz, a key route for jet fuel out of the Gulf, has been effectively closed by Iran for more than six weeks in response to US and Israeli attacks, sending the prices up and prompting fears of shortages.

As a result, the crisis "has thrown a proverbial wrench into the inner workings of the aviation fuel markets", the IEA said.

Many airlines around the world have had to take emergency measures to counter the rising cost of fuel, which typically makes up 20-40% of their operating costs.

While Aer Lingus said the cancellations are because of aircraft maintenance, the travel journalist Simon Calder believes it could reflect the larger challenges many airlines are facing.

"Airlines trimming some of their summer services is becoming widespread across Europe, because the doubling of the cost of fuel means some routes are no longer profitable," he said.

Ireland's Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien, said the country has a solid aviation supply.

Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, he said: "our supplies are robust. We have a 70-day reserve".

He added that Ireland receives its jet fuel from the United States, and airlines "will make decisions separate to Government".

Irish Airline Pilots' Association (IALPA) President Mark Tighe said that whilst the situation in Iran was on everyone's mind, Aer Lingus has similarly cancelled flights in previous years.

He believes the cancellations are due to a shortage of pilots. He described how pilots are frequently being contacted on their days off and asked to work.

Tighe also said that this year the company was unable to grant all of the annual leave pilots are contractually entitled to because of the shortages.

He said the airline is not suffering from a "fuel cost problem" because Aer Lingus hedges its aviation fuel unlike US operators who the company is in competition with.

"The situation in Iran is critical to our industry and we are watching carefully to see what happens going forward," he continued.