Aircraft: call to the EU for urgent measures against fuel shortages
These include the abolition of taxes and the ETS as well as the introduction of obligations for refineries to ensure the supply of jet fuel
by Mara Monti
After airports, airlines are also appealing to the European Union for temporary measures to help them cope with potential aviation fuel shortages and increased costs caused by the war with Iran. From monitoring fuel stocks at European level, to more flexible slot management when flights are cancelled, to the abolition of aviation taxes and ETS to the introduction of subsidies for airlines carrying excess fuel. The A4E association, which represents companies such as Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and IAG (British Airways and Iberia), as well as the low-cost easyJet and Ryanair, has also asked the EU to allow the import and use in the block of Jet type A fuel, mainly used in the US, a type that is not allowed in Europe because it is too polluting.
'These are temporary measures to overcome the current situation, as well as long-term planning to be prepared for the future,' Ourania Georgoutsakou, head of A4E, the association of European carriers, said in a statement.
Airlines are calling for direct action on jet fuel as well, since although member states must hold minimum stocks of oil, there is currently no obligation or guarantee of availability of jet fuel. Likewise, there is no EU-wide collective purchase of paraffin to mitigate supply problems, inspired by the EU's joint gas purchase model following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in order to support aggregate demand at European level. Finally, it calls for the introduction of targeted obligations on refineries to safeguard the supply of aviation fuel.
