Airport runs out of fuel

Manchester airport runs out of fuel

Airline passengers at Manchester are facing the threat of cancellations after the airport ran out of jet fuel.

The Telegraph,

6 June, 2012

Supplies were stopped in the early hours of this morning due to quality issues with fuel from the Essar refinery at Stanlow, near Ellesmere Port.

Stocks were finally exhausted at around 6pm leaving up to ten flights facing cancellation, the airport said.

The airport said that this is the first time that it has ever run out - although it came close to doing so in 2008.

It uses around three million litres of aviation fuel per day.

The fuel supply comes from the refinery via a pipeline which is capable of pumping 250,000 litres an hour.

Fuel restarted pumping through the pipe shortly after 6pm this evening.

But because of the time needed to fill the tanks and for the stock to settle, it will not be possible to begin refuelling aircraft until the early hours of the morning.

Manchester airport handles around 600 flights a day and is used by both budget and major scheduled airlines.

Short haul airlines avoided disruption by refuelling elsewhere. But there were some delays to long-haul flights which had to take on fuel en route to their destination.

“Whilst a stock of aviation fuel is stored on site, as a precaution, airlines have been advised to carry additional fuel wherever possible,” an airport spokesman said

“Although this is a short term problem, until it is resolved, airlines might not be able to refuel aircraft at Manchester Airport which is why contingency plans have been put in place.

“Experts from the fuel companies, the airport and airlines are working hard to resolve the issue and minimise any impact.

“Whilst we do not expect this to cause widespread disruption, it is possible that some airlines may decide to cancel, divert or delay a small number of flights from 18:00 tonight into tomorrow morning.

Passengers due to fly out of Manchester have been advised to check with their airlines before travelling to the airport.

A spokesman for Ryanair, which has four aircraft based at the airport said: "We do not anticipate any cancellations and delays. We will load extra fuel at other airports to cope with any shortages."

Meanwhile Monarch, which has seven flights due to leave Manchester tomorrow, said it was reviewing the situation.

"Passengers should keep up to date with what is happening on our website."

A spokesman for easyJet also was optmistic that it could avoid disruption to the "few flights" it has scheduled for this evening.

Meanwhile Virgin Atlantic said flights could take longer to take in a refuelling stop en-route to long haul destinations.

A spokesman for Etihad added: “Our flight tonight to Abu Dhabi was fully fuelled this afternoon when it landed in Manchester and the plane will leave at its scheduled time of 9.05pm this evening.”