If you flew across Europe this year, you probably felt the same thing we did. Fares crept up, and the airlines seemed a little tense. It turns out there is a good reason. The first half of 2026 handed European carriers one of the nastiest fuel bills in years, and the way each group handled it tells you a lot about who is built to last. So grab a coffee, and let's take a quick tour of the big names.
You can't understand any of these results without the oil story. A war involving the US, Israel, and Iran began on February 28, 2026, and Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on March 4, disrupting roughly 20% of global oil supplies. Brent crude surged past 120 dollars a barrel, and jet fuel reportedly jumped about 106% year over year. By July the crude price had settled back below 75 dollars, roughly where it started, but the damage to first-half results was already done. The wild part: IATA still expects the global airline industry to post a record net profit of about 41 billion dollars in 2026. The strong players are that strong.
Ryanair had a monster year. For the year ended March 31, 2026, profit after tax (before exceptional items) rose 40% to 2.26 billion euros, up from 1.61 billion the year before. That is its highest annual profit on record. Revenue climbed 11% to 15.54 billion euros, and traffic grew 4% to 208.4 million passengers. Ryanair guided next year's traffic to about 216 million but wisely said it was too early to promise a profit number given how jumpy fuel is.
IAG, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, was the other standout. Group operating profit jumped 77.3% in the first quarter to 351 million euros, on revenue of 7.2 billion. Here is the tell of a healthy group:
IAG expects about 2 billion euros of extra fuel cost this year and plans to recoup roughly 60% of it through higher fares. That is the pricing power a strong brand buys you.
Now for the losses. Don't panic when you see them, because winter is simply a weak season for European carriers, and Q1 red ink is normal.
Lufthansa Group posted a record first-quarter revenue of 8.7 billion euros, up 8%, and actually narrowed its adjusted EBIT loss to 612 million euros from a 722 million loss a year earlier. It held its full-year guidance despite about 1.7 billion euros of extra kerosene cost, aiming to make it back in the second half. Lufthansa also agreed in June to lift its ITA Airways stake from 41% to 90%, so it is still playing offense.
Air France-KLM was almost break-even at the operating line, with a Q1 operating loss of just 27 million euros. That is a 301 million euro improvement year over year on revenue of 7.5 billion. It did trim its capacity growth plan and flagged a full-year fuel bill of about 9.3 billion dollars, up 2.4 billion.
easyJet had the roughest headline of the three, with a first-half loss before tax of 552 million pounds, wider than last year's 394 million. But revenue rose 12% to 3.95 billion pounds, and easyJet holidays was a genuine bright spot, with headline EBIT up 50% to 48 million pounds. Liquidity sat at a comfortable 4.7 billion pounds.
If there is a real worry in this group, it is Wizz Air. For the year ended March 31, 2026, revenue rose 8% to 5.69 billion euros, but net profit collapsed to just 1.3 million euros, down from 213.9 million the year before. Ouch. The culprits were higher maintenance and depreciation as older aircraft leave the fleet, plus one-off Middle East route cancellations including Tel Aviv. There is a silver lining: EBITDA still rose 16.2%, and passengers grew 10% to 69.7 million. The demand is there. The costs are the problem.
The clearest theme of 2026 is that fuel separated the strong from the shaky. The low-cost and network leaders with real pricing power, Ryanair and IAG, came out ahead. The big seasonal losses at Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and easyJet are mostly on plan and improving. Wizz is the one to watch, squeezed between rising fleet costs and a difficult Middle East map. With oil back down since July, the second half could look brighter for almost everyone. But if your summer fare felt a little higher than you expected, now you know why.
Reported from public sources. Figures were accurate around the time of writing and can change as airlines report new results.
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