Flights canceled - Air Niugini warns of flight disruptions

Flights canceled
Air Niugini warns of flight disruptions over shortage of fuel
Monday, March 21, 2005
The National

SHORTAGE of aviation fuel has forced Air Niugini to announce there will be domestic flight disruptions today with uncertainty over when normal fuel supplies would resume. In a press statement released yesterday, Air Niugini said it had been advised by the petroleum retailing giants, Shell and Mobil, at 12.40pm yesterday of a shortage of aviation fuel.

“The company therefore wishes to advise the travelling public that there will be domestic flight disruptions experienced today (Sunday) and tomorrow (Monday),” the statement read. Yesterday, Air Niugini cancelled seven of its scheduled flights because of the problem. An official said they only managed a Dash 8 flight to Popondetta.

The official said the situation might not improve today. “Unfortunately, we are unable to advise the duration of the fuel shortage, as it is a matter completely out of our control,” the airline said in its statement.

In a separate statement, Shell said its normal jet fuelling operations have been halted at Jacksons Airport until further notice.
“This is due to an inability to confirm the quality of the current shipment of fuel transferred to Shell’s Port Moresby Terminal at Idubada,” Shell said.

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http://www.thenational.com.pg/0321/nation1.htm

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Could this be a Canary in the coal mine indicator of future jet fuel shortages worldwide?

if your planning a trip soon because prices are gonna sky rocket.

peace

Trust me, some carriers have been doing that - advising their customers, who have already bought & paid for their ticket, that due to rising fuel costs, a small amount will have be to surcharged.

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.. keep in mind that Air Niugini operates in a somewhat remote part of the world, where getting jet fuel back & forth is a bit troublesome. Also, Port Mooresby might not have the capacity to store large amounts of jet fuel at the time, meaning that a slight interruption in the fuel deliveries could cause a period with little availability to the airlines.

this is about contaminated fuel, not a shortage. They don't say what the contamination was, but it's not uncommon with some of the flakier tanker operations for seawater to get into the tanks, or for one product to be loaded when the tanks aren't completely empty of some other product.

Refinery capacity is stretched worldwide, so when something like this happens it can take days to find replacement product in some parts of the world.

Eventually, yeah, with limited field production and refinery capacity, there will be serious competition for different fuels.