The Nadi International Airport is Fiji’s main international gateway, with more than 30 international flights scheduled each day. However, the recent unavailability of aviation fuel posed a challenge, forcing many major airlines, such as Qantas, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand to seek alternative ways to refuel.
Fuel Supply Disruption
According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Civil Aviation Viliame Gavoka, recent fuel shortage is caused by a supply-chain issue, where jet fuel they received from one of their suppliers is unusable. He mentioned that this affects the availability of Jet A-1 fuel that international airlines use to refuel in commercial flights from Fiji. Airlines might have to wait until the next shipment of fuel arrives to remedy this situation.
Previously, it was reported that the shortage of fuel was caused by fuel contamination, where there were excessive electrical charge in fuel stock. It was unclear how this issue came about. However, Gavoka confirmed that there is no fuel contamination, rather, it was an issue in the supply chain that caused this shortage
The Ministry also reported that current conditions are improving, and this issue will be resolved by the end of this month.
Adapting to Fuel Restrictions
Major airlines such as Qantas, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand adopted several measures to cope with this issue. Qantas has used larger aircraft, such as the Airbus A330 for the Sydney-Nadi route as compared to their previously smaller Boeing B737 to avoid refuelling at Nadi. Virgin Australia has had to cancel two flights out of six that go from Australia to Fiji. Air New Zealand has also needed to bring their own fuel to address the shortage.
An additional 1.3 million litres of Jet A-1 fuel has also been made available in an effort to alleviate the shortage. This had to be allocated wisely, with non-scheduled flights advised to take fuel from elsewhere to have enough for scheduled flights that need it. Some airlines such as Virgin Australia had confirmed that they stopped halfway in New Caledonia and Vanuatu to refuel on their way to Australia and Fiji.
What do you think the government and airlines can do to prevent this in the future? Let us know in the comments!
