Air New Zealand ‘Can’t Recover the Full Cost of This Fuel,’ CEO Says

Air New Zealand CEO Nikhil Ravishankar said the carrier has been hit harder than others by the recent fuel crisis spurred by the Iran war, adding that high costs are causing it to cut capacity. 

“We can’t recover the full cost of this fuel,” Ravishankar said in an interview earlier this month in New York. “I think today fuel’s at $200 a barrel. U.S. jet fuel, normally it’s $85 and so that increase, we’re currently recovering about 40% of that through price increases and consolidating our network.”

Jet fuel prices in Asia and Oceania are currently at around $207 a barrel, according to data from airline industry trade group IATA. In the U.S., the average price of jet fuel is at $4.30 a gallon, according to data from Argus Media published by Airlines for America. 

Ravishankar said a