What the Middle East conflict and fuel prices mean for business travel

The ongoing unrest in the Middle East is continuing to affect global travel, even for travellers whose destination is nowhere near the region.

That is because the impact is not just about where airlines can and cannot fly. It is also about fuel supply, aircraft routing, schedule efficiency and the cost of operating an airline network when jet fuel prices rise sharply.

Across the aviation sector, airlines are managing a mix of pressures: affected airspace, longer routings, tighter scheduling and fuel costs that remain well above usual levels. For travellers, that is showing up in familiar ways: higher fares, less flexibility at short notice, and a greater chance of schedule changes than we would normally expect.

For New Zealand travellers, Air New Zealand has worked hard to keep disruption to a minimum, with a small number of schedule adjustments across May and June, following earlier consolidations in March and April. The airline says the latest changes affect around 4% of flights and around 1% of passengers for that period, with most impacted customers still travelling on the same day. The airline has also made some fare increases to help manage higher fuel costs.

Importantly for travellers, MBIE says fuel supply into New Zealand remains stable, with onshore and incoming stocks sufficient.

The wider message for organisations is to plan travel more deliberately. If a trip is important, book earlier than usual. If the meeting is time-critical, avoid very tight same-day itineraries. Allow more connection time on long-haul journeys. Keep traveller profiles and airline contact details up to date so disruption notifications reach the right person quickly. And where practical, consider routings that do not transit through the Middle East.

SafeTravel has also warned that travellers should expect sudden changes to travel conditions and should monitor advice for both destinations and transit points.

In short, business travel is still moving, but right now it pays to give it a little more runway. Tandem Travel continues to monitor developments and support customers with the latest practical advice, rebooking support and route planning.

Tandem will continue monitoring developments and keeping customers informed. We are here to help plan travel more deliberately while the market remains more challenging than usual.