Qantas hikes fares on international routes as fuel costs surge on Mideast conflict

March 10 (Reuters) - Qantas Airways said on Tuesday it would hike fares on its international routes ‌this week in response to the surge in ‌jet fuel costs due to the conflict in the Middle East.

The ​Australian flag carrier also said in a statement that it was considering adding capacity on its existing Europe routes in the coming months.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has ‌sent oil prices surging, ⁠upending global travel and sparking fears of a deep travel slump and the potential ⁠for the widespread grounding of planes.

Airfares on Asia-Europe routes have already spiked due to airspace closures and capacity constraints.

Air ​New Zealand, ​Qantas's rival, also announced ​earlier in the day ‌broad increases to ticket prices, one of the first airlines to do so since the start of the war.

Qantas said in an emailed statement to Reuters that flights on its European routes were operating as scheduled and ‌were more than 90% full ​in March, about 15 percentage points ​above typical levels ​for this time of year.

"More customers have ‌also been choosing to travel ​to Europe via ​the United States, other Asian cities, and Johannesburg, connecting through Qantas' partner airline network," Qantas said.

"We are ​exploring options ‌to redeploy capacity into Europe on existing routes ​in the coming months."

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in ​Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)