Small airline has 'horrific' year amid soaring jet fuel prices

A regional airline says cut services aren't likely to return amid a "horrific" year for the industry due to soaring jet fuel prices.

Figures from the International Air Transport Association said global jet fuel prices fell by just over five percent last week, but prices were still above pre-war levels.

Managing director of Sounds Air, Andrew Crawford, told Morning Report, he'd sold six aircraft in the last two years.

He said the airline's capacity was down 17 percent this month and this was only set to get worse in the months to come.

The last year had been "horrific" he said, and the business had been "decimated" since Covid-19.

"Just as we got back on our feet along comes our friend in America and they've just gone hogwild. In January fuel was stable... and since then it's just gone crazy.

"Last year we cut five sectors, and last two years we sold six aircraft... I mean it's just, it's brutal, absolutely brutal. Meanwhile our fuel supplier is making billions and billions of dollars profit."

January and February had been really good months for the airline, Crawford said, but now all airlines were having issues.

He said whatever issues small airlines had the bigger ones would be having it worse.

"[I'm] not sure what's going to happen next... every morning you wake up and it's like Russian roulette.

"Everybody is hurting in this country, everybody."