Lufthansa reacts: There is a shortage of kerosene at the Frankfurt hub

There is a shortage of kerosene at Germany's largest airport. Lufthansa therefore allows aircraft that fly to Frankfurt to refuel more than usual at the departure airport. There should be no flight cancellations for the time being.

There may currently be restrictions on the supply of kerosene at Frankfurt Airport. Lufthansa says it has taken precautionary measures to maintain flight operations. This includes aircraft on selected routes taking on additional fuel before departure to Frankfurt. The company said upon request that flight cancellations are currently not expected.

According to Lufthansa, the background to the tense supply situation is, among other things, a reduced capacity of the pipeline connection. According to information from the "Bild" newspaper, the low level of the Rhine is also mentioned as a possible burden on supplies, as tankers can only sail the river with a limited load.

The Frankfurt airport operator Fraport said that regular maintenance is currently taking place on a pipeline that also supplies the airport with kerosene. However, a bottleneck due to this routine maintenance is not expected; there are other supply routes and large tank storage options. “The airport’s ability to operate is therefore not affected,” said Fraport.

Machines are heavier than usual

As “Bild” reports, Lufthansa has instructed its pilots to fill up with more kerosene on certain flights than is required for the respective route. The so-called tankering is intended to reduce the need for additional fuel in Frankfurt. Short- and medium-haul flights are primarily affected, but increasingly long-haul flights are also affected. According to information from the newspaper, the requirements for aircraft in the Airbus A320 family set an upper limit of eight tons of additional fuel. When planning the flight, care should be taken to ensure that the additional weight does not result in any restrictions on the transport of passengers or freight.

Lufthansa emphasized that it wanted to ensure reliable flight operations with the measures it had taken. According to the “Bild” newspaper, the measures will apply until further notice and will be adapted to the development of the situation.