Flight price rises due to 'foolish leaders' starting wars, Virgin's Branson says

Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson has blamed flight price rises on "foolish leaders" starting wars, in a thinly veiled reference to the US-Israel conflict with Iran.

Middle East tensions have choked the production and transportation of millions of barrels of oil, causing a surge in the price of car and jet fuels, which are made from oil.

In May, Virgin Atlantic added a fuel surcharge to ticket prices in response.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly defended the conflict as necessary for peace and security long-term.

However, Sir Richard said there was "no need" for the war.

"The Iran conflict was completely unnecessary. 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."

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

The European benchmark jet fuel price had been hovering around $800 (£590) a tonne but spiked following the outbreak of the Iran war, reaching a peak of over $1,800 in April. It has since dropped to around $1,450.

Virgin Atlantic's chief executive, Corneel Koster, told the BBC that for "this level of fuel price" fuel surcharges were "absolutely required", adding that it's "hard to be optimistic at this moment about the situation in the Middle East".

The surcharge Virgin introduced added £50 to an economy class fare, £180 to premium and £360 to business class.

Air fares soar by nearly 25% as Iran war forces flights to re-route

Airlines cut flights and hike fares as fuel prices surge

Several of Virgin's rivals cut flights in addition to raising fares following the start of the conflict .

In April, analysis from consultancy firm Teneo found the Iran war had led to a 25% increase in air fares .

And this week Ryanair said it would reduce its winter schedule because of higher fuel prices and warned European short-haul fares would "increase materially" if jet fuel prices continue to rise until next summer.

Yet, despite the higher costs, Koster said Virgin did not plan to make any big changes to its winter schedule.

He said winter capacity had already been slightly reduced a few months ago and added that if there was low demand on certain routes "in the depths of winter", there would be some trimming or "capacity discipline", but not "big percentages".

The airline expects to fly 95% of its regular schedule.

Sir Richard was speaking to the BBC as Virgin Atlantic announced it had secured a contract to fly Team GB and ParalympicsGB to Los Angeles for the Summer Olympics in 2028.

The airline took the contract from rival British Airways, which had been doing it since the 2008 games in Beijing , external .