On the 16th, International Energy Agency (IEA) Director Fatih Birol said in a media interview that Europe's aviation fuel reserves may only last about six weeks. If the situation in the Middle East continues to disrupt oil supplies, many flights could soon be forced to cancel.
He believes that the root cause lies in the obstruction of oil, natural gas, and other key supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. Once this critical maritime route is restricted, it will have far-reaching impacts on the global economy. The longer any disruption to navigation continues, the more significant the negative impacts on economic growth and inflation will be.
He emphasized that this impact is clearly uneven, with developing countries being relatively more affected, especially poor countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Birol stated that even if a ceasefire is achieved or a peace agreement is reached, (in the Middle East region) damaged energy facilities will be difficult to restore quickly.
On the 14th, several European airline operators called on the European Commission to take urgent measures to ensure aviation fuel supplies in order to deal with energy supply problems caused by the Iran conflict.