donnlass
6th Jun 2012, 19:46
The airport uses about three million litres of airline fuel each day.
Aviation fuel is being sent to Manchester Airport after it ran out of supplies, according to the suppliers.
A spokesman for the Essar refinery in Cheshire, which pipes fuel to the airport, said production was "now back to normal".
Stocks are expected to return to average levels by Thursday morning, an airport spokesman said.
He added some of the 150 flights scheduled from 18:00 BST till 06:00 on Thursday, could be disrupted.
The airport uses about three million litres of aviation fuel a day, with the majority of supplies coming from the refinery at Stanlow near Ellesmere Port.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Jonathan Sumberg, BBC transport journalist
The majority of airlines can cope with this delay in fuel. How?
A flight leaving Majorca, for instance, would fill up double the amount it needed to get it to Manchester and back to Majorca.
Obviously this uses more fuel overall, due to the increased weight of the plane. Equally, a plane leaving the United States would put in enough fuel to fly to Manchester and then on to another UK airport where it could refuel before returning to the US.
Another thing to note is it takes four hours to get from the refinery to the airport, and then airlines have to let it "settle" for a further two hours before it can be used.
A spokesman for the refinery said the shortage was caused by "production issues".
Russell Craig, head of communications for Manchester Airport, said the majority of passengers and flights would not be affected, but delays and cancellations were possible.
He said: "We don't want this to happen, but equally we aren't prepared to take any risks with fuel and with aircraft safety."
He added: "We came close to running out in April 2008, when we saw a similar issue with the supply but fortunately at the 11th hour the fuel was able to start moving again."
Passengers planning to fly from the airport have been told to check with their airline before they leave.
Shell sold the refinery to Indian company Essar Energy last year.
Aviation fuel is being sent to Manchester Airport after it ran out of supplies, according to the suppliers.
A spokesman for the Essar refinery in Cheshire, which pipes fuel to the airport, said production was "now back to normal".
Stocks are expected to return to average levels by Thursday morning, an airport spokesman said.
He added some of the 150 flights scheduled from 18:00 BST till 06:00 on Thursday, could be disrupted.
The airport uses about three million litres of aviation fuel a day, with the majority of supplies coming from the refinery at Stanlow near Ellesmere Port.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Jonathan Sumberg, BBC transport journalist
The majority of airlines can cope with this delay in fuel. How?
A flight leaving Majorca, for instance, would fill up double the amount it needed to get it to Manchester and back to Majorca.
Obviously this uses more fuel overall, due to the increased weight of the plane. Equally, a plane leaving the United States would put in enough fuel to fly to Manchester and then on to another UK airport where it could refuel before returning to the US.
Another thing to note is it takes four hours to get from the refinery to the airport, and then airlines have to let it "settle" for a further two hours before it can be used.
A spokesman for the refinery said the shortage was caused by "production issues".
Russell Craig, head of communications for Manchester Airport, said the majority of passengers and flights would not be affected, but delays and cancellations were possible.
He said: "We don't want this to happen, but equally we aren't prepared to take any risks with fuel and with aircraft safety."
He added: "We came close to running out in April 2008, when we saw a similar issue with the supply but fortunately at the 11th hour the fuel was able to start moving again."
Passengers planning to fly from the airport have been told to check with their airline before they leave.
Shell sold the refinery to Indian company Essar Energy last year.