International Airlines Group, the owner of British Airways, has raised its expected 2026 fuel bill to €8.9 billion and warned of pressure on fares as it prepares to pass rising costs to passengers. Peter Campbell of the Financial Times reported the warning, describing fuel costs that have soared following the Iran war.
The new forecast is up from a range of €8.3 billion to €8.6 billion three months earlier. IAG expects its 2027 fuel bill to be meaningfully higher still.
That does not amount to a full-year fare forecast. Chief executive Luis Gallego said it was “too early” to discuss fares for all of 2027, although prices were “still very high” on ticket sales for the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, the Financial Times reported.
Less fuel-price protection in 2027
IAG also has less protection through hedging, which means buying fuel in advance at a fixed price. Finance chief José Barrionuevo said the group had hedged about 71% for 2026, compared with 45% for 2027 at the time of the announcement. The 2027 hedges were also at higher prices, the Financial Times reported.
IAG said British Airways had passed through nearly 100% of its additional fuel costs to passengers, compared with about 80% across the wider group, which includes Iberia and Aer Lingus. Those figures describe the share of additional fuel costs recovered, not the percentage increase in fares.
