Most of us at Skift were in New York City this week for our annual Skift Global Forum, where we heard from some of the airline industry’s newest CEOs: Hamad Al-Khater at Qatar Airways and Corneel Koster at Virgin Atlantic.
Al-Khater, who became chief executive of Qatar Airways in December 2025, said he was reluctant to pass on surging fuel costs to customers given the competitive environment in the Middle East. Qatar Airways, like other major Middle Eastern carriers, has been hit particularly hard by the Iran war due to airspace closures and a drop in demand.
“We’re just kicking the can down the road from that side of things, and as a result, we just have to get used to this fuel price that’s higher,” he said. “We don’t want to pass it to our customers just yet. That’s going to be an option of last resort, just because of the competitive landscape.”
Koster, who became Virgin Atlantic’s CEO in January, was critical of increasing mandates on sustainable aviation fuel while supply continues to lag. SAF, which has long been seen as the industry’s best shot at reducing carbon emissions, has been plagued by supply chain issues, including a lack of feedstock and high production costs.
“What would be really unacceptable is if we have very expensive fuel, and basically because it’s not available, you have to buy it out, and the customer basically has to pay more without getting environmental benefits,” he said.
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