Flights: Air transport in danger due to lack of fuel in Petropera

Supply gas it is dangerous for the air transport industry, unions of the aviation industry and national tourism warn.

PetroPeruwhich will be the main fuel supplier for most air travel, informed airlines last Friday that they would not be able to supply airlines normally due to anomalous waves that make it difficult to unload fuel.

Petroperú has no emergency stock

International Air Transport Association (IATA) President Martin La Rosa told RPP Noticias that Petroperú limited itself to a few days’ notice and did not provide possible solutions to the problem.

“On Friday, airlines were alerted to this shortage. fuel for these coming days. In principle, the notification was “we have already run out of fuel, from tomorrow I will give you 30% less fuel, and on the 13th I will not be able to give you any more fuel, so I ask you to cancel your operations”, no matter what either the solution method or the huge impact it could have on essential services during the high season,” he commented.

An airline union representative points out that about 30% of flights departing from Lima depend on fuel supplied by Petroperú, and despite this, the state oil company did not have an emergency supply.

“This type of situation is not new and predictable, so other operators have an emergency stock, in the case of Petroperú the problem is that they did not have an emergency forecast, which is normal (… .) Ten days later, to Unfortunately, Petroperú will no longer be able to supply gaswith which we are already seeing how it has affected operations,” he said.

Impact on air transport

But what effect will air transport see in the face of this shortage?

Currently, the IATA representative indicates that they affect cargo operations for import.

“Airlines are already seeing that their operations, especially cargo operations, have been affected because what they do is that flights arriving in Peru fill them with more fuel, stopping the carriage of goods, that is, passengers with cargo. that planes carry more fuel,” he explained.

Although they indicated in their statement that there is a high possibility that air carriers will be forced to cancel flyingLa Rosa indicates that the necessary actions are being taken to avoid reaching this point.

“At that time, if flights are affected, passengers will be notified in advance in an attempt to accommodate them on other flights or create another opportunity so that they are not affected as much,” he said.

La Rosa notes that this shortage has resulted in some regions such as Tacna, Puerto Maldonado and Arequipa no longer having fuel for air operations.

“One of the solutions being sought is that planes that normally load in Lima will load in Tacna, Puerto Maldonado and Arequipa. But Tacna has already run out of fuel because he also had to weigh operations in Lima, Puerto Maldonado, Arequipa also yesterday,” he added.

For their part, Petroperú indicates that an important shipment of aircraft fuel will only arrive on July 23, but the delivery will only take place from the 27th of this month, as they indicate that entry requires rest and certification.