The boss of EasyJet has said the airline will not be affected by jet fuel shortages this summer, but says people are booking flights later because of the uncertainty caused by Iran war.

Kenton Jarvis told the BBC travellers should not panic as the airline had seen no issues with fuel supplies, adding that people could book with confidence.

The conflict in the Middle East has led to the effective blockade of the key Strait of Hormuz waterway, normally a key route for Europe's jet fuel, and this has led to near doubling in fuel prices.

Earlier this week, rival carrier Ryanair said Europe remained "relatively well supplied with jet fuel".

On Wednesday, it emerged that plans to impose a ban on UK imports of diesel and jet fuel made from Russian oil in third countries have been watered down amid concerns over supplies and price rises.

However, Jarvis told the BBC's Today programme: "We've seen absolutely no issues with fuel supply in any of our airports in the UK across Europe or indeed beyond."

He added the carrier stayed in close contact with its fuel suppliers, airports and governments and "they're equally raising no issues looking forward".

"I would absolutely say don't panic about it, at EasyJet we fully intend to fly the summer schedule that we have on sale," he said, adding that the airline would not be adding fuel surcharges to fares.

Jarvis said fuel production had increased in Norway, West Africa and the Americas, while "refining capacity for jet fuel has also increased substantially outside of the Gulf region".

One change EasyJet had seen was a "shortened booking window", with demand strong for flights departing the same month, Jarvis said.

"As you look further out people are more cautious, people are waiting and watching, but they are booking… and I expect that strong late booking market to run through the summer."

The trend of later bookings echoes that seen by other travel firms. Jet2 said last month that bookings had "become increasingly close to departure" since the beginning of the conflict, while Tui said it had seen a 10% fall in revenue from summer holiday bookings made by UK customers.

Travel agent group Advantage Travel Partnership said "strong demand for holidays departing in the coming weeks suggests consumers remain cautious about committing too far ahead", although it added the "continued momentum in the late-booking market also underlines that appetite for travel remains resilient".

Jarvis's comments on delayed bookings came as EasyJet reported a pre-tax loss of £552m for the six months to March. Airlines typically make losses over the winter then look to make profits during the peak summer holiday season.

The carrier reiterated that its financial performance during the second half of the year would be affected by higher fuel costs and uncertainty over customer demand.

Earlier this year, EasyJet said it would be trimming the number of seats it had on sale this summer by 0.3%. The airline has also said the Iran war had added an extra £25m to its fuel bill in March.

In late February, before the first US and Israeli airstrikes, jet fuel was trading at $831 a tonne in Europe. By early April, it had touched $1,838 a tonne before beginning to fall. It is now down to around $1,300.

EasyJet said it had signed deals – or hedged – for 72% of its fuel supply for the six months to the end of September at pre-Iran war prices. For the six months over the 2026-27 winter this falls to 53%.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said EasyJet was "one of the more sensitive European airlines to fuel price fluctuations".

"The recent spike in fuel prices looks set to take a big toll on profitability," he said. "Even if the Middle East conflict is resolved in the near term, fuel prices are likely to remain elevated for some time."

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UK net migration has dropped to the lowest level, outside of the Covid pandemic, since 2012.

How does that sit alongside other key migration measures, including asylum applications, small boat arrivals and visas granted?

Scroll down to find out more about the latest key figures, and get answers to key questions on a range of topics.

Produced by: Rob England, Libby Rogers, Jess Carr, Aidan McNamee, John Walton, Becky Dale, Allison Shultes, Chris Kay, Steven Connor and Scott Jarvis.

Graphics by: Jez Frazer, Zoe Bartholomew and Joy Roxas

Figures from government and other official sources can be revised between publications. This page shows data as presented in the latest available release.

Immigration, emigration and net migration

*The net migration figure for the UK will not exactly equal immigration minus emigration because the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes it as a rounded number.

Immigration and emigration estimates from the ONS are updated twice a year.

Net migration figures use the internationally recognised definition of a long-term migrant: "A person who moves to a country other than that of their usual residence for at least a year."

The total number of visa entries only includes visas that have been granted. It does not include visitor visas or transit visas, where the UK is not the final destination.

Visa figures record when permission was granted, not when or whether someone arrived in the UK.

If a person was granted more than one visa within the year shown, each visa is counted separately.

Work visas refer to new individuals granted permission, or extensions of existing permission. This includes categories such as seasonal work, health and care, domestic worker and youth mobility visas.

Study visas include all individuals sponsored by approved UK education providers, as well as those on short-term study visas.

Family visas allow someone to come to or remain in the UK to live with close family members already here. This includes joining a spouse, partner, child or parent, or coming to care for a relative.

The "Other" category includes visas outside work, study and family routes. This covers humanitarian schemes such as the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the British National (Overseas) route. It also includes family permits for people from European Union or European Economic Area countries.

Home Office figures for asylum seekers in hotels are published under the category "contingency accommodation – hotel".

The number of people in all other forms of accommodation includes non-hotel contingency accommodation, as well as initial, dispersal and "other" accommodation.

To show how evenly accommodation is distributed, a scale compares each local authority's share of people in that type of accommodation with the UK-wide average for areas using the same accommodation type:

Backlog figures for people waiting for an initial asylum decision include both main applicants and dependants.

Open appeals against refused asylum applications refer to individuals. Figures on appeals are published every three months by the Ministry of Justice, at a different time from other government asylum statistics. It also includes a small number of appeals against revocation of protection.

Small boat crossings and other irregular arrivals

Small boat crossing figures and the average number of people per boat are taken from the Home Office daily data.

Entering the UK without permission is an offence under immigration law, but asylum seekers are generally not prosecuted if they claim asylum on arrival. In some cases, people have been prosecuted alongside other offences, such as people smuggling or re-entering after deportation.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) collects figures on people who have died or gone missing while crossing from mainland Europe to the UK. These reports are based on information from French and UK officials (such as police or coastguard) and media sources. The IOM considers them an undercount because there are no official statistics.

The figures may include people who died in the Channel itself, as well as those who died while travelling to a crossing point.

Data on modern slavery includes final decisions only. Modern slavery covers human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced labour.

Figures for other entries without permission combine all recorded irregular arrivals that were not by small boat. This includes inadequately documented air arrivals, recorded detections at UK ports, and other recorded detections within the UK.

People who are denied entry at the border and then leave the UK are not included in the returns figures on this page.

Returns involving the government are grouped into three categories. Enforced returns (which include deportations) are cases where the Home Office requires someone to leave and arranges their removal, usually because they have no legal right to remain or following a criminal conviction.

Assisted voluntary returns are when someone agrees to leave the UK and receives government support, such as help with travel documents, flights or reintegration assistance.

Controlled voluntary returns are when someone leaves the UK voluntarily without being forcibly removed, but their departure is formally recorded by the Home Office.

Independent returns are referred to by the government as "other verified returns," and refer to individuals who have left the UK without

People returned after a criminal conviction include non-British citizens convicted in the UK of any criminal offence, or convicted abroad of a serious criminal offence.

UK migration compared with other countries

Sea arrival figures are taken from the UNHCR European sea arrivals dashboard and combined with UK Home Office small boat data.

Asylum application, immigration and emigration figures for European countries are the latest available data from Eurostat for: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Norway, Switzerland and Croatia.

UK population figures are from ONS, National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency 2024 mid-year estimates. European population figures are from Eurostat as of 1 January 2024.

To ensure comparability with the UK, European countries with populations under one million are excluded from per-capita comparisons of net migration and asylum applications.

For net migration comparisons, only countries that include asylum seekers or refugees in their immigration figures are included.

These are: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.

Portugal was also excluded as it did not have net migration data available for 2024, it will be re-included in future updates.

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China has called on the US to stop using "coercion" and "threats" against its ally Cuba, after Washington indicted former leader Raúl Castro on murder charges.

An American court has accused the 94-year-old former president of conspiracy to kill US nationals over the 1996 downing of two planes, an incident which killed four people and fuelled diplomatic tensions between Washington and the Caribbean island.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to exert pressure on Cuba and has openly discussed toppling its communist regime.

On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the US should "stop threatening force at every turn", and that Beijing "firmly supports Cuba".

On Wednesday, Castro was charged alongside five others of involvement in the shooting down of two planes travelling between Cuba and Florida three decades ago, and was indicted with offences which carry penalties of life in prison or death.

The aircraft, which were operated by the Cuban-American dissident group Brothers to the Rescue, were carrying three US citizens when they were downed, all of whom were killed.

At the time, Castro – who stepped down as president in 2018 – was head of the country's armed forces.

The incident caused outcry among Cuban exiles living in the US and has long been a source of contention between Washington and Havana.

Cuba's president Miguel Díaz-Canel has described the charges as "a political manoeuvre, devoid of any legal foundation".

The foreign minister of China, a long-standing supporter of Cuba, said Beijing opposed "any attempt by external forces to exert pressure on Cuba under any pretext".

Guo continued: "The United States should cease using sanctions and judicial apparatus as tools of coercion against Cuba and refrain from making threats of force at every turn.

"China resolutely supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and dignity and opposes external interference."

It comes as the White House continues to ratchet up pressure on Cuba.

The US has imposed new sanctions on the country and imposed a blockade on oil to Cuba, a move which has resulted in blackouts and food shortages.

Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order sanctioning officials in Cuba's energy, defence, financial and security sectors, as well as individuals the US alleges have carried out human rights abuses or stolen public assets.

Since capturing former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in January to face trial in the US over charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking, Trump has openly mused that Cuba is "ready to fall".

China has become closer to Cuba since President Xi Jinping's 2014 visit to the island.

In 2018, Cuba joined China's Belt and Road Initiative, which funded several strategic infrastructure projects on the island.

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