European airports have warned the EU that jet fuel shortages could hit the summer holiday season if oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz are not restored within three weeks. Airports Council International (ACI) Europe wrote to EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, saying the bloc is three weeks away from shortages, as reported by the Financial Times. The warning follows Iran’s effective closure of the strait, a key shipping route for Gulf oil, in retaliation against the US-Israel war.
In Ireland, protests over fuel prices have entered their fourth consecutive day, with hauliers, farmers and other groups blocking motorways and causing widespread disruption. The Irish government has put the army on standby to help remove blockades, while police warned protesters to disperse or face arrest. Gardaí said the protests were endangering critical supplies of food, fuel, water and animal feed. Taoiseach Mícheál Martin described the actions as “unconscionable” and “illogical”, noting that blockades of ports and a refinery were pushing Ireland towards turning away oil deliveries.
Meanwhile, US inflation surged in March amid the war with Iran, with the consumer price index (CPI) rising 0.9% month-on-month and 3.3% year-on-year, the largest increase in nearly two years. Energy prices jumped 10.9%, led by a 21.2% rise in gasoline, which accounted for nearly three-quarters of the monthly increase. Airfares rose 2.7% in March and were 14.9% higher than a year earlier. Despite the data, the S&P 500 opened slightly higher, while the Dow Jones slipped 0.3%.
Bernard Yaros, lead US economist at Oxford Economics, warned that inflation is likely to remain “uncomfortably strong” in the coming months, with rising pump prices adding further pressure. However, he noted that this is not a repeat of 2022, as supply chain stress is not severe, the labour market is not inflationary, and fiscal support under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is less skewed toward lower-income households. He expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later this year to support the labour market amid the energy supply shock, provided long-term inflation expectations remain anchored.
