Africa-Press – South-Africa. The jet fuel shortage at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg is expected to be largely resolved by the end of May, the Jet Fuel Forum Committee (JFF) said in a statement on Thursday evening.
The JFF oversees the provision of jet fuel to the airport – the busiest in the country.
The fuel crunch started in mid-March after serious floods in KwaZulu-Natal, which damaged railways and fuel infrastructure. It forced some international airlines to divert flights to Durban and Windhoek to refuel on their return journeys.
According to a report from Airports Company SA, only four of the 445 flights departing from OR Tambo on Monday and Tuesday this week had to refuel at alternative airports, and there were no flight cancellations.
At the start of the week, the airport had 5.2 days’ worth of jet fuel available. This is “more than adequate” to supply all airlines operating to and from OR Tambo, according to the JFF. This is because additional fuel will be made available to airlines whose suppliers are currently unable to fulfil their contractual obligations.
The additional 1.5 million litres of fuel, committed by the Central Energy Fund and earmarked for airlines that are unable to secure fuel from their suppliers, is expected to arrive at the airport this week. The JFF is in the process of finalising a list of airlines that will have access to this fuel.
The South African Petroleum Industry Association has put the 20 million litres it had guaranteed into the Multi Product Pipeline (MPP) in Durban on 12 May. The fuel arrived at the National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa (Natref) and the first batch of eight million litres will be available at the airport by 27 May 2022.
This will be followed by another batch of eight million litres which will be available next week, and the final batch of four million litres will be available the week thereafter.
This is in addition to the weekly 16 million litres transported directly from Natref to the airport via a dedicated Transnet Jet Fuel Pipeline. Furthermore, as from 3 May, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) enabled rail transport to the airport from Matola in Mozambique of 1.1 million litres a week.
A further 1.9 million litres of jet fuel arrived at the airport on 18 May from Durban via rail. This is part of Transnet’s business continuity plan to ensure security of supply of jet fuel at the airport.
According to the JFF, OR Tambo is also now ready to receive fuel by road tankers if need be.
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