Latest jet fuel stock figures are out later today but an airline group is worried there may need to be fuel restrictions even if the Middle East war is resolved quickly.
As at 18 Mar, jet fuel stocks in the country or on water added up to 44 days. Board of Air Line Representatives New Zealand (BARNZ) executive director Cath O’Brien says there is enough jet fuel to operate normally for the time being.
“Airlines are responding to fuel price by cutting some flying but we are not yet having to respond to the full supply issue.’’
While the looming supply problem is serious, she’s confident the airline and travel sectors will get through it. “Aviation is a volatile business and I have every faith that airlines will get through this.’’
But even when peace is achieved following the Israel/US attack on Iran it is a ‘reasonable assumption’ there will be supply disruption.
. . . Be Prepared
The country uses close to five million litres of jet fuel a day (and 8.1 million litres of petrol and 10.7 million litres of diesel), according to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.
“I don’t want to be alarmist but I want to be prepared,” says O’Brien, who adds that airlines need a longer view of what will be available in this country, especially those f lying long-haul or ultra long-haul services.
“We need to get a good line of sight into what more is coming.”
Fuel allocations can be sprung on airlines in as little as 12 hours but O’Brien says they ideally need weeks of warning for proper network planning.
O’Brien says the airline industry here has experience at responding to fuel scarcity following a pipeline rupture and dirty fuel problems in the past few years, but the global nature of the current problem made it more difficult to plan for.
Airlines have responded to soaring prices by increasing fares and imposing surcharges and she says ticket prices will continue to rise if jet fuel costs continue to rise.
. . . Global Situation
International Air Transport Association director general Willie Walsh told CNN that airlines will be hurt. “There will definitely be shortages of jet fuel and already you’ve seen some airlines say they’re going to pare back their schedule in anticipation of having less jet fuel.”
In Australia, Qantas is reported as being confident of fuel stocks well into next month but overnight Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that grounding planes is a ‘distinct possibility’ due to the jet fuel shortage. “Several countries have already told our airlines they cannot fuel their aircraft, so they have to carry fuel there and back,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
