Despite Acsa's reassurances that flights will continue as scheduled at Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) notwithstanding a fuel shortage, the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) last night reacted to the news of possible fuel rationing at the airport with alarm.
The association has called on the government to create a more robust fuel contingency plan urgently, and adds that the government should waive the additional airport fees that airlines will incur in tankering fuel.
The shortage of fuel is due to a supply delay in a shipment caused by bad weather, and the airport is reported to have enough jet fuel stock to last only four to six days.
AASA's statement said it took note with grave concern of the imposition of jet fuel rationing at Cape Town International Airport. These restrictions are now likely to result in disruptions to airline schedules and possibly cancelled flights at a time when the industry and the economy can ill afford it.
"AASA appreciates the efforts being made by the Airports Company South Africa to manage fuel stocks at the Cape Town International Airport. However, the escalation of jet fuel rations throws into sharp focus South Africa's vulnerability because of its reliance on imported jet fuel. We call on Government and fuel suppliers to move with urgency and put in place a far more robust resilience plan to ensure sufficient stocks of aviation fuel are always available for our airlines," says the AASA statement.
Acsa’s Senior Manager Communications, Gopolang Peme, earlier yesterday (September 27) told Travel News: “We have asked airlines to refuel at other airports to relieve some of the strain on CTIA. We hope to resolve the issue within the next five to seven days.”
He also said the airport had issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) requesting that airlines reduce fuel intake from Cape Town. (A NOTAM is filed with an aviation authority to alert pilots of any hazards en route or at a specific location.)
AASA says: "Although our local and regional short-haul airlines are able to tanker fuel (i.e. carry more than optimally required for a single flight) to maintain their schedules, in doing so they must incur additional costs as the extra fuel load increases the overall weight of each plane, in turn burning more fuel just to carry the extra contingency supply. This puts further cost pressures on airlines at a time when they are already struggling with a more than 100 percent rise in the price of jet fuel, higher finance charges and interest rates as well as increased labour and other costs.
"Local airlines also depend heavily on feed traffic to and from long-haul inter-continental carriers, many of which will be unable to tanker fuel over such great distances. Those airlines may have to resort to intermediate en-route refuelling stops, or fly to Johannesburg or Durban to fill up before starting their long north and east-bound return flights. In such instances we urge Government to waive the additional on-route air navigation and airport fees airlines will incur in order to comply with the fuel rations at Cape Town and continue to provide the inter-continental connectivity that local airlines and the entire region’s economy depends on."
