Budget carrier Wizz Air has said it cut its planned capacity for the second half of its fiscal year by 5pc, joining rivals in scaling back growth plans as the Iran war continues to drive a sharp rise in fuel costs, Reuters reports.

The worst airline crisis in terms of costs since the Covid-19 pandemic, the US-Iran war has sent the global aviation industry into a severe cost shock, with Latvian airline airBaltic becoming the first European carrier to file for bankruptcy earlier this week due to the conflict.

While full-service flag carriers have generally proved more resilient than budget operators, whose business models rely on cheap fares, even larger US carriers have scaled back their planned flight schedules as surging fuel prices threaten earnings.