Virgin founder Richard Branson blames ‘foolish leaders’ fighting needless wars for rising airfares
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson has blamed the hike in flight fares on “foolish leaders” starting “unnecessary” wars.
He was referencing the Iran conflict and Tehran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway for transporting one fifth of the world’s oil supply.
In a footage by BBC on Saturday, the billionaire spoke from a hangar describing how the U.S.—Iran war triggered global inflation with airlines adding surcharges to flight fares.
Mr Branson claimed that the Donald Trump administration’s failure to honour a previous agreement drafted by his predecessor, Barack Obama, was causing economic headaches across the world.
“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,” Mr Branson said. “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.”
Jet fuel price in Europe has reached record highs since the war began. The European benchmark price which was around $800 a tonne pre-war, initially skyrocketed to $1,800 in April but was now at $1,450.
“They (surcharges) won’t be here to stay as long as foolish leaders do not continue to start wars,” Mr Branson said in response to a journalist who asked if the surcharges on air fares were temporary.
Virgin added £50 to its economy tickets, £180 to premium and £360 to business class tickets amid the lingering war between the U.S. and Iran which has exceeded six months.
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