The shortage of jet fuel at Cape Town International Airport could disrupt the schedule of airlines and force them into refuelling detours, potentially increasing their costs at a time when the aviation and tourism industries are showing strong signs of recovery after Covid-19.
The Airports Company SA (Acsa), which runs SA’s airports, announced on Monday that it had issued a notice requesting airlines to limit refuelling at the Cape Town International Airport due to dwindling supplies. The airport is the primary international facility serving Cape Town, one of SA’s main tourism hubs.
Acsa said the reason for the shortage at one of Africa’s busiest airports is that a vessel bringing in the fuel was delayed at sea due to bad weather. This affected stock levels.
“As things stand we are at about four days worth of stock, but confident to have it to about six days by end of this week... however, it’s business as usual and flights continue to move as scheduled,” said Acsa spokesperson Gopolang Peme.
The airport generally aims to maintain over six days of stock. Additional fuel is stored off site by various fuel suppliers and it is then delivered when required.
There are fears that the crisis could disrupt or derail the recovery of travel and tourism.
SA’s travel and tourism sector has on average contributed 5%-6% to GDP over the past 10 years. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, which represents the global travel and tourism private sector, SA’s travel and tourism sector is forecast to grow at an average rate of 7.6% annually over the next decade, outstripping the 1.8% growth rate of the country’s overall economy.
This, as demand for travel and tourism is expected to spike as people look to destress, reconnect and discover new destinations as the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.
SA depends on jet fuel supply through both local production and imports, which account for 70% of supply.
Peme said the notice requesting airlines to reduce uplift from the Cape Town airport will allow fuel suppliers to build a bigger buffer stock over the next five to seven days and reduce a stock out risk, while the shipment of JET A1 is delivered to the airport. This shipment is scheduled to arrive at the end of the week.
Earlier this year supplies of jet fuel to Gauteng’s OR Tambo International Airport, also one of Africa’s busiest, were curtailed due to flood damage to railway lines in KwaZulu-Natal, which interrupted transport. The shortage of jet fuel disrupted the schedule of airlines, especially international carriers, forcing them into refuelling detours, which increased their costs.
At the time transport minister Fikile Mbalula said airlines were working with Acsa to ensure there are no disruptions to their operations, “by making technical stops to refuel at other airports” such as King Shaka International Airport in Durban.
The fuel crisis at OR Tambo resulted in at least two international airlines cancelling 14 flights as a result of the uncertainty about fuel supply, affecting more than 3,000 passengers. This had cost Acsa at least R1.5m in passenger fees and hundreds of thousands in landing fees.
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