Manchester: problemi all'oleodotto che porta il carburante in aeroporto.

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Manchester airport to run out of fuel
Flights to and from airport face delays and cancellations as fuel supply from refinery is disrupted over quality concerns

Helen Carter guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 6 June 2012 15.59 BST
Manchester airport said it expected the fuel supply to be restored by midnight, but the knock-on effect might continue into Thursday. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
Manchester airport is facing a fuelling crisis which means that by 6pm on Wednesday it will temporarily run out of aviation fuel. Flights to and from the airport are expected to be delayed, particularly those leaving for long-haul destinations.

It is the first time that the airport – the UK's third busiest in terms of passenger numbers – has run out of fuel in its long history.
It could lead to delays and mass cancellations of flights if aircraft are unable to refuel during a busy period that coincides with school holidays. Long-haul flights are likely to be worst affected as they do not have the capacity to carry extra fuel.
The problem arose after jet fuel supplies from the Stanlow oil refinery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, were disrupted as a result of quality concerns. The refinery, run by Essar Energy, has a pipeline to Manchester airport that is capable of pumping 250,000 litres of aviation fuel an hour.

The airport hopes the problem will be resolved by midnight on Wednesday but the knock-on effect on services will continue until Thursday, as it takes eight hours to pump a day's supply of fuel. There are 150 flights scheduled to arrive and depart from Manchester in the 12-hour period from 6pm on Wednesday.

Emergency meetings have been taking place at the airport and airlines are being urged to carry more fuel than usual so they can complete the second leg of their journey without refuelling.
Manchester airport uses 3m litres of fuel a day. A standard tanker can only carry 38,000 litres. The airport had looked at alternative sources of fuel, but was unable to identify one. It would require 79 trucks to provide enough fuel for 24 hours' supply.

A spokesperson for the airport said: "The airline fuel supply companies operating at Manchester airport are experiencing temporary problems with their supply of aviation fuel from Essar refinery. Whilst a stock of aviation fuel is stored on site, as a precaution, airlines have been advised to carry additional fuel wherever possible.
"Although this is a short-term problem, until it is resolved, airlines might not be able to refuel aircraft at Manchester airport, which is why contingency plans have been put in place."

The spokesperson said experts from the fuel companies, the airport and airlines were working hard to resolve the issue and minimise any impact.
"Whilst we do not expect this to cause widespread disruption, it is possible that some airlines may decide to cancel, divert or delay a small number of flights from 6pm tonight [Wednesday] into tomorrow morning. We would advise all passengers travelling this evening and tomorrow morning to check their flight status with the airline before coming to the airport."

The airport apologised for any disruption and assured its customers that "everything possible is being done to return operations to normal".
In April 2008, the airport warned that fuel supplies were running low because of a similar issue, but it was rectified before flights were affected.
Manchester airport said further updates would be issued when more information was available.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/06/manchester-airport-run-out-fuel

 

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Fuel problem rectified at airport
Manchester Airport can store up to four million litres of fuel
Flights are operating as normal at Manchester Airport following fears planes would be grounded over problems with the quality of its fuel supply.

The airport's supplies from Shell's Stanlow oil refinery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, were stopped on Wednesday.

Airport chiefs rationed its stored supply, and sought alternative sources.
However, the problem has since been fixed and the airport confirmed there were no cancellations and passengers should arrive as normal for flights.
An airport spokesman said on Saturday: "Manchester Airport is operating as usual this morning with no delays or cancellations.
"Passengers do not need to contact their airline before arriving at the airport. Flights are leaving as normal and on time."

'Short-term issues'
The airport previously advised airlines operating short-haul flights to fill up their planes before they arrived at Manchester, while long haul flights had faced a detour to refuel.
A spokeswoman for Shell said there had been short-term problems with the quality of some fuel batches from its refinery but none of this fuel reached the airport.
She said: "At present sufficient supplies of jet fuel are being maintained from Shell to Manchester Airport.
"There have been short-term issues with production of jet fuel at Stanlow Refinery, which have now been rectified."
The airport can store four million litres of jet fuel, but can use up to three million litres a day.
It takes 12 hours to pump one day's supply through the pipeline from Ellesmere Port - it would take 1,000 tankers to transport the same amount by road.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7332022.stm

 

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Manchester airport promises review after fuel crisis hits flights

Manchester airport has vowed to ‘learn lessons’ after it ran out of fuel for the first time in its history.
Bosses are working with the airlines and fuel companies to review the incident, which caused 30 flights to be delayed or disrupted yesterday morning.
It is understood the probe, which will take several days, will look at the contingency plans that are in place to prevent fuel supplies running out.

The M.E.N. reported yesterday how a batch of fuel from the Stanlow oil refinery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, was found to be contaminated – meaning a pipeline to the airport had to be turned off in the early hours of Wednesday.
Reserve supplies in the airport’s huge on-site tanks were already greatly depleted because of a Bank Holiday rush.
That meant supplies ran out completely at around 5pm.
Fears that the shortage could spark major disruption proved unfounded. Airlines were warned about the shortage and carried extra supplies to ensure their planes did not get stranded on Wednesday night.
But 13 flights that were due to leave yesterday morning were stuck without enough fuel to depart.
Most were delayed by less than 30 minutes – although a flight to Tunisia scheduled to leave at 6am was delayed for two and a half hours.
A further 17 outward bound flights had to make unscheduled stops at other British airports to fill up.
Passengers on a Thomas Cook flight from Larnaca to Manchester were also affected. The plane had to divert to Birmingham to refuel at around 9pm on Wednesday.
Passengers were offloaded and put on coaches – arriving back in Manchester at around 12.30am yesterday.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook Airlines said: “We’d like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding yesterday as we handled the fall out from Manchester Airport’s fuel shortage situation.
“We’re proud that we were able to get all our customers away on holiday with only a small number of flights having to be diverted to Birmingham for refuelling.”
In a statement, airport bosses said they would be working with fuel companies to ‘review the incident, learn lessons and mitigate any risk of disruption that might be caused by a similar incidence in the future’.

Chris Formby, airport operations director, said: “Disruption to passengers has been kept to an absolute minimum thanks to the airlines and the refinery.
“On behalf of the thousands of passengers, we would like to thank our airline partners for the huge effort they put into contingency planning to mitigate the highly unusual problem with the fuel supply.
“Although it was only a relatively small number of people affected, we are also grateful to those passengers who were delayed for their patience and understanding.”
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereve...romises-review-after-fuel-crisis-hits-flights