Airfares more than double as Middle East conflict disrupts flights

Friday, 6 March 2026

Airfares have more than doubled on some airlines as international travellers compete to secure seats to get home.

Fares on Singapore Airline’s website have spiked to between $5500 to $8500 in the last two weeks of this month, compared with about $3000 in April, she said. But prices would rise as the war continued.

Asian carriers were seeing an influx of passengers on their European routes, but had only so many seats available.

“The remaining seats they have on European routes are so limited compared to the demand, and fares are skyrocketing,” Singapore-based aviation industry analyst Brendan Sobie said.

Read more:

• Defence Force planes deploy for Middle East evacuations as 3000 Kiwis stranded

• ‘Absolute chaos’: Jet fuel price spikes as Strait of Hormuz caught in Middle East conflict

• Budget 2026: Nicola Willis’ economic recovery at risk from oil price spike, Strait of Hormuz crisis

Aircraft on the route were on average about 80% full, “so those 20% of remaining seats were snapped up very quickly by passengers, whether it's Australia or New Zealand, or elsewhere in Asia”.

“There definitely are some seats between China and Europe. But the problem is, everybody's fighting over those seats. That's why fares have increased so much,” Sobie said.

In any case, those available seats accounted for just a fraction of what the Gulf carriers were flying every day via their hubs into Europe before the war broke out, he said.

Travel Agents Association chief executive Julie White advised against cancelling without talking to the airline or a travel agent.

“If you are due to travel in the coming weeks via the Middle East, avoid panic-cancelling and instead wait for the airline to cancel, or change the flight. Cancelling yourself may mean forgoing your rights to a refund or rebooking options.

“If your trip is scheduled in the next few months, speak with your accredited travel agent or tour operator, as there are a range of alternative routes and solutions available.”

Do you know someone affected by the conflict and trapped in the Middle East? Email news@thepost.co.nz

Aviation Industry Association chief executive Simon Wallace said Emirates was operating a limited schedule and trying to fly as much as it could. However, two of its aircraft had been grounded at Auckland Airport since the fighting started on Saturday.

Airlines other than those based in the United Arab Emirates continue to fly between Asia and Europe as normal, but were using routes that took them well north or south of the conflict zone.

Large Asian carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines were not significantly affected, other than adding an extra hour’s detour over the Middle East, Wallace said.

The main disruption was largely confined to airlines that served the Middle East, but was not affecting Asian carriers, he said.

At times like these there was strong co-operation between airlines, Wallace said.

“And so what you're seeing is Singapore Airlines and some other Asian airlines picking up the rebooking passengers travelling on Emirates or Qatar via Dubai, and Doha to and from New Zealand, for example, being be rerouted on those carriers via Asia or North America, if they have to get Europe, for example.”

Sobie said the problem was, nobody knew how long the conflict was going to go on for.

He said it was too early to say there was going to be “permanent, structural shifts”.

“You would expect them to come back. The question is, how fast can they come back? They have to wait for the green light from the authorities.”