{"id":18271,"date":"2022-05-20T04:31:43","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T08:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/?p=18271"},"modified":"2022-05-20T04:46:43","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T08:46:43","slug":"trains-planes-and-fuel-mobiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/trains-planes-and-fuel-mobiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Trains, Planes and Fuel-mobiles"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do railways and airplane fuel shortages have in common? Well, at FAOR\/Johannesburg Airport, it turns out quite a lot.<\/p>\n

Chapter 1. Trains.<\/h4>\n

The railway lines which run through KwaZulu-Natal (the province on the east coast where FADN\/Durban International airport is) were badly damaged in flooding earlier in 2022. Unfortunately, these train lines are how jet fuel is generally moved from the Port of Durban refinery to Gauteng (the province where FAOR\/OR Tambo international airport is).<\/p>\n

The train lines are only expected to be repaired to 50% capacity by June 2022<\/strong>, and 100% capacity by October 2022.\u00a0<\/strong>Unless further flooding occurs.<\/p>\n

Which means FAOR\/Johannesburg isn\u2019t getting the 16 million or so litres of fuel a week which it normally needs.<\/p>\n

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The railway lines between KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were damaged.<\/p><\/div>\n

Chapter 2. Planes<\/h4>\n

We should say the 16 million or so litres of fuel a week which the airplanes need.<\/p>\n

Currently (as of mid-May), the airport\u2019s stock sits at around 3-5 days worth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Domestic and regional airlines will be less badly impacted by this because they can tanker more easily, or visit one of the other South African airports and uplift their fuel there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Durban (where the fuel is) lies on the southern eastern coast and for most international flights, this would require a fairly substantial diversion (fuel burn) to go simply to pick up more fuel.<\/p>\n

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Chapter 3. Fuel-mobiles.<\/h4>\n

It just rhymed…<\/p>\n

Actually, the plan isn’t to drive more fuel there in tankers, but to pipe it. A shipment of 20 million litres is on its way<\/strong>, while another 1.5 millions litres is being arranged directly with airlines that have been hit by the \u2018force majeures\u2019 of their normal fuel providers.<\/p>\n

Epilogue. Where else is an option?<\/h4>\n

The fuel situation will be ongoing until October, although should ease up as plans are put in place. In the meantime, international operators do have options for fuel stops.<\/p>\n