Jet fuel supply crisis hovering over Europe’s airports

Europe is edging towards a jet fuel supply crisis, as disruption in the Middle East tightens global availability, threatening airport operations.

The Middle East typically supplies up to 75% of the region’s jet fuel imports, feeding major aviation markets like the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Turkey and Italy. Alternative supply routes are proving insufficient. Imports from the US are rising, but even if all these additional volumes were destined for Europe, that would still only make up a little over 50% of the lost volumes from the Middle East, according to the IEA.

Shortages could begin if stock falls below 23 days’ worth, triggering flight cancellations – a threshold that could be breached as early as June, if Europe fails to replace at least half of the lost Middle Eastern volumes, according to the IEA’s April report.

Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said today:  “The IEA’s assessment of potential jet fuel shortages is sobering. We have also estimated that by the end of May we could start to see some cancellations in Europe for lack of jet fuel”.

Source: theloadstar.com