2 billion euros more over one year: Lufthansa sees its kerosene bill soar, which does not prevent it from seeing its sales jump by 9%

The year 2026 has been gloomy for airlines. The German air transport giant, Lufthansa, indicated on Tuesday November 3 that it anticipated a significant increase in its kerosene bill for the year 2026 due to the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran. “Due to an unchanged geopolitical situation, our planned fuel bill for the whole year now amounts to 9.3 billion euros”, or 2 billion more than in 2025, Lufthansa financial director Till Streichert said in a statement.

This estimate was increased by 600 million compared to that made in the previous quarter, said the group, a sign that prices continued to increase at the end of the summer (after a stabilization phase). As reported by Air & Cosmos magazine, the Jet Fuel Price Monitor indicator from the International Air Transport Association (Iata) shows that for the week of October 23, the average price of a barrel of kerosene was $197. This is 7% more than in September.

And more than double the average price for 2025, when a barrel was $90. Other companies have also sounded the alarm for the coming months and the year 2027. This is the case of the eccentric general director of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, who threw a wrench into the pond on October 20 in Brussels: "You are going to see air fares increase next year in Europe, I think by 10, 15, maybe 20%.

You are going to witness the largest increase in air fares, I would say, in the history of Europe, over the next twelve months,” he declared. Comments that need to be qualified, but which illustrate the potential effects of the inflationary surge. Air France-KLM is not immune to the surge in kerosene either.

At the end of July, the Franco-Dutch group estimated that its fuel bill would reach 8.9 billion dollars in 2026, or 2 billion more than the previous year. In the second quarter alone, the rise in fuel prices cost it an additional 804 million euros. To limit the damage, the group notably increased the carrier surcharge applied to plane tickets.

Air France-KLM, which is due to publish its quarterly results on Thursday November 5, nevertheless indicated that it had managed to offset around 85% of this additional cost thanks to the increase in its revenues. Demand remains strong Taking into account these costs, the Lufthansa group (which owns many other companies such as Swiss, Austrian Airlines or Eurowings), is now counting on an operating profit (EBIT) of between 1.7 and 2 billion euros in 2026, compared to a range of 1.7 to 2.2 billion previously. “The exact position of this range will depend not only on fuel costs and demand, but also and above all on the results of Lufthansa Cargo (its freight subsidiary, editor’s note) in the fourth quarter,” explained Till Streichert.

Machine-translated from French