Aviation fuel mess uncertain

Even though government is trying to offer explanation for the shortage of aviation fuel in the country, airlines have had to depend on supplies from Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

The situation has taken a heavy toll on some travelers whose flights have been cancelled.

This is because domestic airlines have had to surcharge GH¢15 on each ticket in order to make up for extra costs incurred from the shortage brouhaha.

Some travelers, who arrived in Ghana from the sub-region, realized that their luggage had been left behind when they got to the Kotoka International Airport.

Instead of packing the luggage onto the aircraft, the airlines decided to fill the aircraft’s fuel tank above the required limit in order to ward off a shortage.

In the process, luggage are transported later in the day delaying the passengers at the airport by close to five hours.

Currently, the product is transported into the country by road from Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

An aviation analyst has condemned the situation, saying it could push airline operators to short-change passengers.

He added that operators could adopt common pricing under the current circumstances. According to him, competition is key in the industry.

As a result of the situation, many international airlines operating in Ghana have had to make alternative arrangements to lift fuel from neighbouring countries.

Some stakeholders, in an interview with CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE, attributed the shortage of aviation fuel to challenges faced by Bulk Distribution Companies (BDC).

Dzifa Attivor, Minister of Transportation, noted that work on the installation of new storage tanks for Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) Supply at the Kotoka International Airport would be completed soon, but it not known when exactly this will be over.

The new ATK tanks have a capacity of 1,540,000 litres enough to last for one month.

Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) used in the aviation industry is highly filtered to remove all impurities.

If the situation is unchecked as soon as practicable, perishable goods grounded at the KIA could go bad.

All the foregoing challenges pose a threat to a 10 percent growth projected by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority in the aviation sub-sector this year.

The growth is expected to be mostly driven by an increase in the number of dedicated cargo-carriers and the number of passenger-carriers flying into the country.

The repercussions of this crisis on food exporting companies cannot be over-emphasised.

Other industry players have attributed the shortage to the Tema Oil Refinery’s inability to supply enough fuel from bulk distributor companies.