South Africa’s aviation sector currently has sufficient jet fuel stocks to meet demand for about three weeks, but the industry is closely monitoring geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that could threaten crude oil supply.
Speaking during a panel discussion on infrastructure, investment and innovation at the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (Barsa) Aviation Summit in KwaZulu-Natal last week, Siganeko Magafela, Executive Director of the Fuel Industry Association of South Africa (FIASA), said current jet fuel stocks were sufficient to meet demand.
“We currently have no shortage in terms of supply,” he said, adding that existing stocks would take more than three weeks to be depleted.
Magafela said the greater risk lay not with jet fuel itself but with crude oil supply, which ultimately determined refinery output.
However, he noted that the situation could become more complex if tensions in the Middle East persist. “We are in a delicate situation at least,” he said. “If this crisis continues beyond two weeks, then we need to do something as a country.”
South Africa’s aviation fuel supply has become more reliant on imports following the closure of several domestic refineries between 2020 and 2022. OR Tambo International Airport is supplied from two sources – Natref and imported fuel delivered via Durban.
The aviation industry relies on a steady supply of Jet A-1 fuel to maintain operations, and airlines sometimes tanker additional fuel into markets where supply is uncertain. Magafela said the sector was managing supply carefully to ensure demand could be met and that imports already en route to South Africa were not expected to be affected.
Magafela said contingency options could include drawing on crude reserves stored at Saldanha Bay if needed, although discussions with government had not yet begun.
