European airports raise the alarm: fuel for three weeks
ACI Europe, the association of European airports, wrote to the EU transport commissioner about the risk of running out of jet fuel stocks
by Mara Monti
European airports have raised the alarm: aviation fuel stocks are dwindling, with the prospect of serious disruption for the upcoming holidays. ACI Europe, the trade association of European airports, has informed the EU that it expects kerosene reserves to run out within three weeks, unless supplies from the Middle East, which have been interrupted following the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, increase.
A scenario that threatens to lead to flight cancellations and ticket price increases. In a letter to the European transport commissioner, Aci Europe warned: 'If the passage through the Strait of Hormuz does not resume in a meaningful and stable manner within the next three weeks, systemic aviation fuel shortages will become a reality (...) severely affecting airport operations and air connectivity'. The letter represents the strongest signal to date from the air transport industry from both airlines and European airports about the real risk of running 'dry'.
At some Italian airports, including Milan, Venice and Bologna, restrictions on refuelling have already been imposed. The fear is the depletion of stocks of jet fuel, a product derived from oil refining, due to continuous supply disruptions from the Gulf, despite the ceasefire between Iran, the US and Israel.
One fifth of the world's oil and gas transits through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed by Iran since the beginning of the conflict. Tehran has insisted that the Strait has been reopened in accordance with a ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran. However, Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran is doing a "very bad job" of reopening the waterway.
In the past 24 hours, only seven ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, compared to the approximately 140 that normally passed through on a pre-war day. Jet fuel prices remain at double the level they were before the start of the conflict, reflecting its relative scarcity: according to the Argus Media news agency, reference prices closed Thursday at $1,573 per tonne, well above the approximately $750 per tonne before the start of the conflict.
