Dakar – Senegal admitted to jet-fuel supply problems on Tuesday, but denied that there was no stock, after the capital’s airport warned that planes would no longer be able to refuel.
On Monday evening, Blaise-Diagne International Airport said that “unfavourable international conditions” and volatility in commodities markets had severely disrupted supplies of jet fuel.
The airport, near the West African country’s capital Dakar, instructed incoming planes to carry enough fuel to be able to make return flights.
SMCady, the firm managing fuel at the airport, also said in a letter seen by AFP that it would be unable to refuel jets from Wednesday, for a period of about two weeks.
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has sent oil prices soaring worldwide. Russia, under stringent Western sanctions, is a major energy producer.
However at a news conference on Tuesday, Senegalese Energy Minister Sophie Gladima told reporters that fresh supplies of kerosene were due to arrive the same day.
“The situation is very tough but there is no shortage of supplies,” she said.
Airlines have reassured passengers that flights will continue. The national carrier Air Senegal stated Tuesday that its flight schedule would remain unchanged despite the shortage of kerosene.
A spokesman for Air France told AFP that flights between Dakar and Paris are stopping to refuel in the Canary Islands.
The International Air Transport Association said it was in contact with Senegalese authorities about the shortage.
“We are not aware of this being an issue in any other African countries currently,” an IATA spokesperson said.
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Source: AFP
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