Several airports in Europe may soon start facing fuel shortages, warned jet fuel distributors.
Air bp Italia, the local subsidiary of the British energy group has started rationing supplies at four airports in northern Italy, Milan-Linate (LIN), Bologna (BLQ), Treviso (TSF) and Venice Marco Polo (VCE). Medical and government flights as well as those commercial flights with a duration of more than three hours are reportedly given priority in the allocation of jet fuel in view of the limited stocks.
Speaking to Italian news agency ANSA, the director of ENAC, the country’s aviation authority, attributed the situation to the difficulty to respond to the peak of demand during the Easter holiday period. However, there are growing concerns in the industry that unless the traffic of oil through the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal, there will soon be more widespread shortages of fuel across the continent.
Besides the increase in the price of oil, which looms as an existential threat for many air operators, some countries are at risk of experiencing physical scarcity of jet fuel.
While no disruption has so far been reported, some industry figures, such as Ryanair’s boos Michael O’Leary have warned that the United Kingdom is at particularly risk, since it sources a large part of its fuel supply from the Gulf region.
Stocks of jet fuel in the UK may last for about five to six weeks if supply is interrupted.
in this regard, some airlines in different parts of the world have started implementing emergency measures to reduce their fuel consumption.
Air New Zealand and Vietnam Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and United Airlines have all trimmed their flight programs in response to the jet fuel availability uncertainty and price increases. Other airlines may follow suit, including Ryanair, which has warned of potential cuts to its summer program, and Lufthansa, which is considering the grounding of up to 20 aircraft.