https://arab.news/wy6u4
- Planes could be grounded in early May
- No country immune, energy chief says
PARIS: Passenger flights could be grounded in the next two months because of a global shortage of aviation fuel caused by the Middle East war, industry experts warned on Thursday.
Countries in Asia are likely to be affected first, followed by Europe. Both rely on oil from the Gulf and its refineries for their supplies.
“The situation can, within the next three, four weeks, become systemic,” energy economist Claudio Galimberti said. “So you can have severe cuts of flights in Europe, already starting in May and June.” Flights had already been canceled because of fuel shortages, he said.
German airline Lufthansa is closing its regional subsidiary because of higher fuel prices and industrial action. “The 27 operational aircraft of Lufthansa CityLine will be permanently removed from the flight program,” the airline said.
The Airports Council International Europe has told the European Commission that shortages of jet fuel could start at the beginning of May if tankers did not begin sailing through the Strait of Hormuz before then.
Europe has “maybe six weeks or so of jet fuel left,” the head of the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. Fatih Birol warned of flight cancelations “soon” if oil supplies remained blocked by the war. It was “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” he said.
“Everybody is going to suffer. Some countries may be richer than the others. Some countries may have more energy than the others, but no country, no country is immune to this crisis.
“I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be canceled as a result of lack of jet fuel.”
The impact of the fuel shortage will vary beween airports and airlines, said another economist, Rico Luman. “Smaller inland airports will be in a weaker position than the main hubs,” he said. “It won’t be a matter of full halt, but part cancelation at some airlines and airports.”