Fuel shortage scare sparks fears of airport delays

CONCERNS over a possible fuel shortage at Dublin Airport on Monday resulted in delays and aircraft having to refuel in airports overseas, sparking fears of a summer of chaos for air passengers.

Fine Gael Transport spokesperson Olivia Mitchell yesterday called for a Dáil debate on the issue after it emerged that some flights from Dublin Airport had been delayed on Monday as a result of the fuel shortage.

A spokesman for Exxon Mobil, who operate the fuel depot at the airport on behalf of four fuel suppliers (the other three suppliers are Shell, BP and Texaco), said the oil companies were investigating what had caused the fuel shortage.

In a statement issued on behalf of the consortium which stores the fuel at Dublin airport, the fuel shortage was attributed to “high demand combined with difficulties associated with road tanker deliveries to the airport”.

The Dublin Airport Authority said the issue of refuelling was one for the airlines involved and their fuel suppliers.

“We can only influence areas we are responsible for,” Siobhan Moore said.

“This has nothing to do with the Dublin Airport Authority. It is between fuel suppliers and the airlines.”

As many as 15 million passengers are expected to pass through Dublin Airport between April and October this year, compared with 18 million passengers that used the airport in all 2005.

But Deputy Mitchell said the fuel shortage, which she described as the first in living memory at the airport, did not bode well for summer travellers.

Deputy Mitchell said the idea of a pipe supplying fuel from Dublin Port to the airport needed to be reviewed.

A spokesperson for Aer Lingus said that the airline had been notified by its supplier early on Monday morning that there could be a shortage of fuel at the airport and had taken steps to ensure there was no effect on flights.