Aviation leaders gather in Rio as fuel worries persist

“Nothing says jet fuel crisis, as one prospective attender put it, like flying everyone to Rio de Janeiro.” Aviation leaders will converge in Brazil this weekend for the Iata AGM, the annual global airline summit, with the industry still, for the most part, looking resolutely skyward.

The oil tankers may still be stuck behind the strait of Hormuz as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran flickers on, but for now airlines continue to defy dire warnings of impending shortages that had stoked fears of a summer of chaos for European holidaymakers.

Rio was announced as host city at the last summit in Delhi, when global air traffic had rebounded and jet fuel was just over $80 a barrel; despite a slide down from last month’s peak, it remains over $140 a barrel. Analysts at Cirium say jet fuel made up just over a quarter of global airlines’ costs in 2025, and every dollar on a barrel adds the best part of $3bn to the annual fuel bill.

Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

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