Jet Fuel...

[Foyl]

Item on the news about a jet fuel shortage - true or media beat up?

[Wirraway]

AAP

Jet fuel shortage to cause delays
September 25, 2003

FLIGHTS in and out of Sydney face delays over the next two days because of a shortage in jet fuel supplies, the fuel distributor said today.

The Sydney JUHI (Joint User Hydrant Installation), which stores and distributes jet fuel at Sydney airport, said it could only supply 35 per cent of normal demand for this time of year.

The distributor began rationing fuel at 11am today, on the eve of the NSW school holidays.

"The companies involved in the JUHI deeply regret this inconvenience, particularly during the school holiday period," a JUHI spokeswoman said in a statement.

"The situation will be monitored and reviewed on a twice-daily basis.

"The best estimate is for this level of rationing to remain in place for the next 48 hours."

The statement said the temporary jet fuel shortage was due to lower than planned production from Sydney refineries and delayed product shipment.

Full jet fuel production would be restored at Sydney refineries, it said, and a tanker shipment of fuel was expected to arrive in Botany Bay tonight.

"The JUHI participants are taking all possible steps to restore normal supply," it said.

"Each JUHI participant is working with its individual airline customers to determine appropriate supplies for domestic and international airlines in order to minimise disruption to the travelling public."

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said problems with the supply of jet fuel from Sydney refineries posed no threat to safe air travel.

AAP

=========================================
ABC News Online

Jet fuel shortage to cause national flight delays
ABC News Online
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s953851.htm

Sydney airport has revealed a major shortage of jet fuel which could delay flights across the country for at least two days.

The distributor of jet fuel at Sydney Airport, Joint User Hydrant Installation, says it can only supply 35 per cent of normal demand for this time of year because of lower than planned production from Sydney refineries and delayed shipments from elsewhere.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) says problems with the supply of jet fuel from Sydney refineries do not pose a threat to safe air travel.

Spokesman Peter Gibson says airlines will very likely need to reschedule flights in order to pick up fuel at other airports, but there will be no compromising of safety standards.

"We do have coming up over the weekend the start of the school holidays with the potential problem of some disruptions but it is hard to say what the magnitude of that might be," he said.

Mr Gibson denied the shortage was due to fuel contamination.

"If there had been contaminated fuel delivered to aircraft then we would have a major problem but all the information at this stage suggests that's not the case, there are no safety problems."

Qantas says no domestic services will be disrupted, although some international services will be rerouted to pick up fuel on the way to Australia.

Virgin Blue says it expects to maintain a full schedule of flights into and out of Sydney tomorrow, despite the fuel shortages, by carrying extra fuel from other airport.

Sydney Airport says it regrets any inconvenience particularly during the school holiday period.

It said it began rationing fuel from 11am AEST and is organising additional fuel from interstate and overseas, with the first shipment due to arrive tonight.

The Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane says everything is being done to ensure the incovenience to airline passangers is kept to a minimum.

"It'll have some impact in terms of international flights but it is hoped that overall on the basis of the information given to us by the airlines that those impacts will be minimised," he said.

The jet fuel shortgage in Sydney is not affecting refuelling operations in Melbourne and flight cancellations are not expected.

Melbourne airport spokeswoman Brooke Lord says the problem is only in Sydney and planes arriving in Melbourne are being refuelled.

"There is increased demand for fuel in Melbourne because we have a number of jets coming in especially to refuel given the shortages in Sydney," she said.

"We have contractors on site that manage our joint user hydrants here, they have been fabulous in responding to the increased demand and they are managing it vey well now.

"They believe they will be able to manage this issue without too many delays and we are hoping that will be the case."

The Defence Force has been asked to be on stand-by in case of an emergency.

=========================================

[Keg]

I dunno whether it is true or not. I DO know that we've been tankering fuel into SYD for domestos flights to enable nil/minimal fuel uplift. Even international flights where possible have been tankering fuel in (IE, Tasman and so on). I didn't know it was THIS serious as to cause diversions and so on- albeit as the media report it anyway!

[Wirraway]

Thursday September 25, 8:12 PM AEST

Fuel Shortage Disrupts Sydney Airport Flights
By Lilly Vitorovich and Edgar Ang
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--Local and international airlines Thursday started diverting flights due to a surprise jet fuel shortage at Australia's busiest airport, adding hours to the length of some long haul flights from Sydney.

With the shortage traced to production problems by Caltex Australia Ltd. fuel rationing at Sydney Airport began late in the morning and was expected to remain in place for at least 48 hours.

Analysts said the shortage will be a short-term headache for international carriers, adding to costs and inconveniencing passengers who are now only just returning to airline travel following the SARS outbreak and Iraq war. Domestic flights should be able to withstand the rationing as they can carry enough fuel from their starting point.

"It is certainly is a bit embarrassing," said Peter Harbison, the head of industry consultant Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. "You don't really expect to have this happening in a a sophisticated commercial environment," Harbison said.

Qantas late Thursday confirmed it had sent four international flights from Sydney to refueling stopovers in either Melbourne, Darwin or Cairns before proceeding to their final Asian destinations.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. said it is assessing the impact of the jet fuel shortage with flight disruptions expected on Friday morning for the next two days.

"We are concerned about the impact these restrictions may have on aircraft operations. We are now working with our fuel planners to identify the impact that the new directive will have on our passenger aircraft and freighter operations to and from Sydney," it said.

Initially, Singapore Airlines had been advised that its fuel uptake had to be reduced by 10%, which could be accommodated by loading extra fuel from Singapore. But than it was told that uptake from Sydney must be slashed by 65%.

Virgin Blue Seeks Local Flight Preference

A Sydney-based transport analyst at a major investment bank said he expects the fuel shortage to hurt international flights more than local carriers Virgin Blue and Regional Express.

"It could be a problem for the long haul flights until this next shipment comes in. I guess they will be getting every bucket they can over to the airport," he said.

"You have a bigger problem for some of the international flights, particularly to LA where there is nothing much you can do. The worst thing that can happen is flights will have to be extended one and a half to two hours by going to Brisbane or somewhere else to fill up."

Australia's second biggest airline, Virgin Blue, plans to operate normal services from Sydney Airport on Friday despite the fuel shortage.

Virgin Blue said it will ask that oil companies give priority to domestic airlines as a result of the school holidays and several sporting events.

In a statement, fuel companies Caltex, ,Exxon Mobil Corp. ,BP PLC and Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD) said they are working to restore full production as well as organizing additional tanker shipments from interstate and overseas.

The first ship will arrive in Sydney's Botany Bay Thursday evening, the fuel companies said.

A Caltex Australia official told Dow Jones Newswires that the planned shutdown at Kurnell refinery's 60,000 barrel a day crude distillation unit is helping squeeze the already tight jet fuel market.

The unit has been shut since September 3 but the resumption date has been pushed back by four days to October 7 due to some technical problems at the Sydney refinery.

"It is now a major issue regarding the jet fuel shortage, the shortage problem was underestimated," the official said.

Australian Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said every effort is being made to ensure the inconvenience to airline passengers is kept to a minimum.

"It'll have some impact in terms of international flights but it is hoped that overall on the basis of the information given to us by the airlines that those impacts will be minimized," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

=============================================

[404 Titan]

Virgin Blue said it will ask that oil companies give priority to domestic airlines as a result of the school holidays and several sporting events.
In one statement they say that this will have no effect on their operations because they can easily tanker fuel into Sydney and in the next they are saying that domestic operations should get priority. What a load of BS. As far as I’m concerned we are all in this together and the pain should be shared evenly. Get in line DJ like everyone else and stop complaining.

On a different note. In a company memo on the 22nd September it was stated:
Aging fuel refineries serving Sydney and Melbourne have gone out of service, creating an immediate shortage in the supply of Jet-A. The current outlook is that the refinery problem may not be fixed, and may therefore cause difficulties, for some weeks to come.
If this is the case, I think someone’s head should role. This is the type of nonsense that I use to have to put up with in PNG. To have this type of thing happen in Sydney is totally unacceptable and maybe the airline industry should consider a class action for damages against these clowns.
:*

[Three Bars]

"The Defence Force has been asked to be on stand-by in case of an emergency."

What the hell does that mean? Another example of exemplary journalism by trying to make a fuel supply shortage look like a potential disaster.

[aerostatic]

C1162/03 REVIEW C1161/03
JET FUEL SHORTAGE SYDNEY
THE JUHI (JOINT USER HYDRANT INSTALLATION) AT SYDNEY (KINGSFORD
SMITH) AIRPORT IS EXPERIENCING A TEMPORARY JET FUEL SHORTAGE.
EFFECTIVE 11AM THURSDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2003 JUHI CAN SUPPLY ONLY 35% OF
NORMAL JET FUEL UPLIFTS. THIS RATIONING IS EXPECTED TO LAST FOR 48
HOURS AND IS BEING REVIEWED TWICE DAILY.
NO AD-HOC UPLIFTS AT SYDNEY (KINGSFORD SMITH) AIRPORT WITHOUT PRIOR
APPROVAL OF FUEL SUPPLIERS.
NO TANKERING IN OF FUEL FROM BRISBANE AND ADELAIDE AIRPORTS.
NO TANKERING IN OF FUEL FROM TULLAMARINE AIRPORT WITHOUT APPROVAL OF
FUEL SUPPLIER.
TANKERING IN OF FUEL FROM PERTH AIRPORT IS POSSIBLE.
TANKERING IN OF FUEL FROM CAIRNS AIRPORT FOR DOMESTIC FLIGHTS IS
POSSIBLE FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS. NO SCHEDULED UPLIFTS THOUGH.
AUCKLAND (NEW ZEALAND) AND NADI(FIJI) OKAY FOR EXTRA UPLIFTS BY LONG
HAUL CARRIERS FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS,
CONTACT YOUR FUEL SUPPLIER FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. A NEW NOTAM WILL
BE ISSUED IF ANY OF THE ABOVE DETAILS CHANGE
FROM 09 251333 TO 09 270100 EST

[404 Titan]

Airline may demand fuel compo

NINEMSN 26th September 2003.

Singapore Airlines could demand tens of thousands of dollars in compensation because of a jet fuel shortage at Sydney Airport.

A spokesman for the international airline refused to rule out seeking financial compensation after having to divert flights and offload cargo to cope with the fuel shortage.

Fuel distributor Sydney JUHI, which stores and distributes jet fuel at Sydney Airport, yesterday began rationing fuel.

Singapore Airlines reworked its flight schedules because of the fuel rationing after the supplies drained away to 35 per cent of the normal capacity.

"The issue of financial compensation is something that we can't rule out," the Singapore Airlines spokesman told ABC radio.

"It is enormously disruptive and very expensive to have to divert aircraft off their normal flight path.

"A diversion can often cost tens of thousands of dollars for aircraft.

"We're now talking about having to make several diversions over the course of the next 48 hours, as well as possibly having to offload valuable cargo to be able to make flights operate as best we can according to schedule."

He said there was no option for the airline but to stop at other airports to refuel.

The spokesman said Singapore Airlines would investigate the incident to ensure it didn't happen again.

"You can't get very far flying an aircraft with 35 per cent of its fuel load," he said.

"And when you're talking about international operations, very long haul flights, that means you simply have to stop somewhere to refuel.

"What concerns us, however, is that this issue has arisen very suddenly.

"To go from 90 per cent (fuel uplift) to 35 per cent in a matter of hours has meant that the contingency planning that we've had to kick in will be enormously disruptive and obviously we need to find out what happened here to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

A spokesman for Virgin Airlines said aircraft would try to refuel at other airports to ensure Sydney flights were on time.

"We are making sure to lift as much fuel as possible from other ports to take less here in Sydney and get everyone away on time to their holidays and to the (AFL) grand final," he said.

Shell Australia chairman Tim Warren said there had been a tight supply situation for the past two weeks because of problems in Sydney's Shell and Caltex refineries.

He said that was exacerbated when a batch of Shell fuel failed testing.

"Occasionally a batch will not meet specification," Mr Warren told ABC radio.

"That does not mean it's contaminated, it means that the refinery run has not worked 100 per cent.

"And what has happened here is we were in a tight supply situation, we were relying on that batch of fuel from the Clyde refinery and unfortunately the occasion happened at just the wrong time."

Good on Singapore Airlines. I just hope a few more airlines consider doing the same to teach these fools a lesson. It’s about time that the Bean Counters are taught a lesson that cost cutting will eventually cost you more than what you save.
:ok:

[jungly]

We (Cathay) are tankering as much as possible to SYD. Even putting 744's on the route instead of 333 and 346.
Despite this effort we are still required to tech stop in Brunei, Cebu etc.

I thought NZ was the pauper of the South Pacific? Perhaps not? Muppets!