Originally Posted by Glassos
Well thank God for that! Otherwise the states would've turned out like the rest of the bleeding empire.
Ah yes....India, that basketcase, shortly to be the second largest economy in the world (behind China no less!)
Anyway, back to the point.....from today's FT:
Heathrow secures jet fuel stocks until the weekend
By Kevin Done, Aerospace Correspondent
Published: February 8 2006 02:00 | Last updated: February 8 2006 02:00
London's Heathrow airport has succeeded in rebuilding jet fuel stocks to a level that will allow all airlines operating very long haul flights to avoid expensive refuelling stops at other airports in Europe, at least until the weekend.
Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe measured by passenger numbers, lost 35 per cent of its fuel supplies in the Buncefield oil depot fire in Hertfordshire in December. It is still suffering a shortfall of about 30 per cent of normal supplies.
Ultra-long haul carriers on routes of 10 hours and more have faced the most acute difficulties.
Qantas, the Australian flag carrier, has been forced several times to route one of its four daily services from Heathrow via London Stansted to refuel, while Thai Airways has been taking on fuel for some services in Copenhagen, South African Airways in Milan and Singapore Airlines in Frankfurt.
BAA, the airports group, said that jet fuel stocks at Heathrow had stabilised sufficiently to allow the ultra-long haul carriers to be guaranteed adequate fuel supplies for all services at least until Friday.
Supplies to the airport, which was previously fed by three different pipelines, one from Buncefield, have fallen from the level of 20m-21m litres a day to only 14m-15m since the fire.
A crisis meeting is to be held tomorrow at Heathrow by airlines, BAA, oil companies and government officials to try to defuse the international row over the emergency fuel rationing system imposed eight weeks ago after the fire, and to consider short-term ways of increasing supplies.
The meeting will be chaired by the International Air Transport Association, the global airline trade association.
Some long haul carriers, in particular American Airlines and United Airlines of the US, have claimed that the current fuel allocation is unfair and discriminates against foreign airlines to the advantage of the home-based carriers, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BMI British Midland.
For long haul services the home airlines are receiving 82 per cent of the fuel they had been taking in the month before Buncefield and visiting carriers 70 per cent.