Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, has spoken up on the Iran war, and has blamed “foolish leaders” for the increased fuel prices—and correspondingly increased airfare prices—this year.
The remark has been seen as, “a thinly veiled reference to the US-Israel conflict with Iran.”
“The Iran conflict was completely unnecessary,” said Branson in a recent interview with the BBC. “There was a nuclear agreement between Iran and the rest of the world that had been negotiated by President Obama and a lot of European people. It was working, so there was no need to rip it up ... and this war has just resulted in much higher oil prices all over the world. And inflation has been one of the consequences.”
Virgin Atlantic has imposed an extra fuel surcharge on tickets sold since May. The surcharges add £50 ($68) to an economy class fare, £180 ($243) to a premium fare. and £360 ($487) to business class fares.
While U.S. carriers have not explicitly added fuel surcharges as of late, airfares have climbed. Hopper Technology Solutions said that domestic airfares for this Fall have increased 39 percent compared to last year, with European flights from the U.S. up 33 percent. Some other international carriers have added fuel surcharges this year, including Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Asiana, Air France, and Air China.
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