Dozens of flights departing from London airports have been cancelled this month, with surging jet fuel prices sparking shortage fears.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, 30 of the 13,466 flights scheduled from the capital (0.223%) have been axed.
Twenty of the cancelled flights are from London Heathrow, with six from London Gatwick, three from London City and one from London Luton.
Data for June, July and August show lower numbers - but with the conflict in the Middle East still ongoing, the cancellation figures may appear artificially low at this stage.
Across the country, the figure is even higher, with 120 of the 22,613 scheduled May departures from British airports, (0.53%) being cancelled.
Worldwide, over 13,000 flights planned for May were cancelled between April 10 and 21, a 1.5% reduction which removed almost two million individual seats.
Istanbul, one of the world's busiest airports, and Munich airport in Germany have seen the sharpest drops in passenger numbers, while Lufthansa recently announced it would cancel 20,000 short-haul flights over the following six months to save fuel.
Although the publication of these figures comes amid growing global issues with jet fuel supply, a Government spokesperson said: "UK airlines are clear that they are not currently seeing a shortage of jet fuel."
The cost of jet fuel has doubled since the outbreak of war in February, with Iran continuing to prevent tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Air France said it anticipates a $2.4 billion (£1.7billion) rise in its jet fuel costs this year, and American Airlines said they expect its bill to climb by more than $4 billion.
The UK government has introduced a temporary rule change allowing airlines to group passengers from different flights together on fewer planes to save fuel.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has said that summer holiday plans will not face major disruption, stating that more fuel has been imported from America, while UK refineries have upped their jet fuel production as part of emergency contingency measures.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of Advantage Travel Partnership, said that airlines are “assessing poor performance flights and consolidating or cancelling as required”.
She added: “UK departures, including key summer holiday routes, remain unaffected, and there is no reason for customers to delay or reconsider their travel plans."
Paul Charles, founder of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “It is better for airlines to cancel flights well in advance so that passengers are less inconvenienced than a last-minute change of plan.
“As the Iran conflict continues, there will need to be many more cancellations as the jet fuel supply is squeezed.”
Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: “It is understandable that holidaymakers are feeling apprehensive about their summer travel plans due to the wave of cancellations.
“The percentage of flights cancelled from the UK remains small, when you consider that the worst airlines cancel over 2% of flights less than a day before departure, even in normal times.
“Our advice for this summer is to book a package holiday, as that is the best way to protect the full cost of your holiday should greater disruption occur.”
