Cape Town aviation fuel shortage sees United cancel flight

South African tourism hot sport Cape Town is facing a shortage of aviation fuel. Photo / Kyle from the North, Unsplash

South Africa's biggest airport is struggling under the pressure of a fuel shortage.

US Carrier United cancelled a flight from Newark Liberty airport after failing to source fuel for the return journey.

Passengers were reportedly sent messages on Saturday, reading: "Your flight was cancelled because we were unable to fuel your plane."

The messages seen by local news said Monday's flight UA1123 would not go ahead, with the return leg also grounded.

The port's owners Airports Company South Africa was warning of further disruption after a delay to the delivery of jet fuel. Fuel rationing has been brought in to manage demand but the dire shortage of aviation fuel was putting flights in question.

Domestic airlines would only be given half of their usual orders of fuel in order to keep reserves over the coming days. It was rationalised that short-haul carriers can fly with less fuel reserves onboard, something that is not possible for long-haul destinations such as New Jersey or Amsterdam.

United cancelled UA1123 to Cape Town and its return leg over the fuel shortages. Photo / Arkin Si, Unsplash

An Air France-KLM flight from Schiphol KL598 was cancelled this weekend, diverting to Johannesburg, although the reason was not given for this.

Wilson Tauro, the Dutch airline's country manager for South Africa, said that they intended to push ahead with their full schedule.

"We are working closely with our fuel provider partners to ensure there is sufficient fuel for our flights departing from Cape Town to Amsterdam. We are monitoring the situation closely and will look at alternatives if needed," he said.

The Airlines Association South Africa has asked for the government to waive fees on aircraft refuelling at alternate airports, to ease pressure on Cape Town.

Mark Mclean, general manager for CPT told the Daily Maverick that the airport had been assigned two million litres of emergency fuel while waiting for the delivery.

"We have a quantity of fuel but it's difficult to say in days," he said.

Passengers booked to travel in and out of CPT over the next week have been told to check with their airlines.

ACSA said that they would be at risk of running dry entirely by midweek if no delivery could be made.

The South African airport relies on imported aviation fuel arriving via ship. Unfortunately weather conditions have delayed the arrival of much-needed fuel by over a week.

"As the port, we are on high alert and tracking the vessel to ensure all resources are ready to receive it when it arrives. The vessel will be receiving berthing priority and we do not foresee any challenges servicing the vessel when it arrives," Rajesh Dana, Cape Town Port manager told CTGN.

South African airlines face tough times

Over the past month South African Airways have axed 20 routes due to a downsizing of their fleet.

This comes as budget-airline rival FlySafair took delivery of a 25th B737 while unveiling.

Despite the looming fuel shortage, Emirates said it would be going ahead with launching additional services from Dubai to Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg.