Will the refinery explosion at Hemel Hemsted disrupt fuel to the Airports?

Part of the problem is that the Pumping station that moves the fuel was beside the depot that exploded and has apparently been damaged. This will also prevent Shell/BP pumping various fuels to/from their yard which was slightly further away from the one that exploded and recieved less damage.

I don’t know for certain but I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere like Heathrow may use in excess of 10 million litres of fuel a day, and if you take say a third of that away, it becomes a logistical nightmare to tanker in say 3 million plus litres which would be up to 120 truck loads, so as Skymonster suggests this may go on for a while until they find another way. Reducing demand by up to a third by applying uplift restrictions is part of this

SQ are stopping one of their three daily SIN flights in FRA for fuel, QF are stopping two of their four daily flights in STN, and CX are tech stopping some flights in AMS for fuel. Not heard of any others, although I’m sure there will be some… Some people are saying that there will be limits to fuel supply to LHR for six months.

Andy

BBC London reporting this morning that a Qantas flight had to make a “pit-stop” at Stansted to get fuel, problems really are occuring then.

For further clarification of the LHR situation, the following NOTAM is currently in effect:

AGA : Q)EGTT/QFULT/IV/NBO/A/000/999/5129N00028W005
FROM 05/12/14 18:36 TO 05/12/31 23:59 EST A2715/05
E)HEATHROW AIRPORT IS EXPERIENCING REDUCED DELIVERIES OF JET FUEL.
IN ORDER TO ENSURE CONTINUANCE OF OPS, THE ARRANGEMENTS AGREED IN THE
DRAFT HEATHROW FUEL CONTINGENCY PLAN (HFCP) WILL APPLY WIE.
THERE ARE SOME RESERVE STOCKS, BUT THESE NEED TO BE BEST USED IN
ORDER TO SAFEGUARD OPS.
ALL INBOUND ACFT WILL MAXIMISE TANKERING OPPORTUNITIES. IN ADDITION
TO TANKERING, FUEL RESTRICTIONS WILL ALSO APPLY.
USING THE HFCP, EACH CARRIER WILL, ON A DAILY BASIS, BE ALLOCATED A
PERCENTAGE OF THE PREVIOUS WEEKS TOTAL UPLIFT. THIS ALLOCATION CAN BE
USED AT AIRLINES DISCRETION.
ALL DEPARTING ACFT WILL RECIEVE FUEL, BUT ON A REDUCED BASIS –
(REFLECTING NORMAL CONTINGENCY PRACTICE WORLDWIDE). THE FOLLWING
RESTRICTIONS APPLY:
VISITING CARRIERS
FLTS UP TO 5 HR DURATION WILL RECIEVE 40 PER CENT OF NORMAL UPLIFT
FLTS OVER 5 HR DURATION WILL RECIEVE 64 PER CENT OF NORMAL UPLIFT
BASE CARRIERS
IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE OPERATIONAL INTEGRITY OF THE AIRFIELD AND
ENSURE STAND AVAILABILITY THE 3 BASE CARRIERS WILL HAVE THE FOLLOWING
ALLOCATION:
FLTS UP TO 5 HR DURATION WILL RECIEVE 64 PER CENT OF NORMAL UPLIFT
FLTS OVER 5 HR DURATION WILL RECIEVE 85 PER CENT OF NORMAL UPLIFT
CONSIDERATION WILL BE GIVEN TO LONG RANGE AIRLINES WHO NEED TO
ESTABLISH INTERIM OPERATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS. AIRLINES IN THIS CATEGORY
SHOULD CONTACT THE AIRSIDE BUSINESS RECOVERY TEAM ON 0208 745 7582 TO
ESTABLISH AN AGREEMENT.
THE SITUATION WILL BE MONITORED DAILY AND AIRLINES PERFORMANCE
MEASURED, WITH NOTAM ISSUED AS REQUIRED.
WE APPEAL TO ALL OPERATORS TO WORK WITH US TO MAINTAIN THE HEATHROW
OPERATION

Did anyone hear the interview with an Aviation luminary (Tony Aster?) on BBC Radio 5 tonight ? He said that things are much more disrupted than was originally thought and that at Heathrow they are now restricting the fuel supply to long haul airlines as well (I forget the percentage of ‘normal’ uplift they will be allowed) which will mean that some airlines will need to do technical stop overs for fuel at other airfields en-route.

He did also say that Qantas was diverting its Sydney flights to Stansted tomorrow (Stansted is completely unaffected as its fuel comes from elsewhere) and named another long haul airline that would be doing the same which I didn’t catch.

My contacts suggest that this may not actually happen tomorrow, but could be on the cards later.

Apparently this situation is not helped by the fact that the Air BP main office in Hemel was also damaged in the blast and staff have had to be relocated.

Does anyone know how they are coping at Luton ? Are they trucking fuel in ? If so from where , Gatwick, Stansted ?

I was under the impression that BAA had their own pipeline from Southampton to Heathrow so that no shortages could occur

One has to speculate that some other element of the distribution system is not functioning as well as expected.

I refer the honorable poster the speculation I made earlier.

exmpa

I was under the impression that BAA had their own pipeline from Southampton to Heathrow so that no shortages could occur

In A word “No”. The main effect of the Hemel incident will be to lower the buffer stock of refined oil products. This will continue until the storage capacity lost can be replaced. Delivery to most major aviation users is by pipeline, this is a flexible sysytem which can quickly respond to outages. Road deliveries to airports remain important and costs will rise in this area because of longer distances from bulk storage to user. The main problem is that the country as a whole is now more vulnerable to disruption in primary supply.

Contrary to what I wrote earlier fuel “rationing” has now been introduced at LHR. this is contrary to the information that was available for the first 48 hours after the incident. The implementation of rationing is to limit users by category; LHR based, non-based, long haul, short haul; to a percentage of their previous week’s uplift. The scheme should make little operational difference to short haul operators who can plan to arrive with excess fuel, either sufficient for the return sector or to minimise uplift. However it may cause problems for some very long sector operators. It does howver mean an increase in operator’s costs due to the fuel burn penalty for carrying additional fuel on tankering sectors and having to tanker in from airports where fuel is more expensive.

One has to speculate that some other element of the distribution system is not functioning as well as expected.

exmpa

That doesnt look right, a 744 wouldnt be that low, with gear down, right next to the smoke would it??

Or possibly that smoke could be miles away!

Still it doesnt look correct to me

if you use a very long zoom then this effect is actually quite easy to get. Comparable to the numerous moon shots with a tiny plane in front.

That doesnt look right, a 744 wouldnt be that low, with gear down, right next to the smoke would it??

Or possibly that smoke could be miles away!

Still it doesnt look correct to me

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/FrameSet.aspx?s=EventImagesSearchState%7c1%7c0%7c28%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c1%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c56398362%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0&p=1&tag=1

Scary stuff! 😮

That first one on my recent post was from an FR flight.

SKy news were showing a picture from an Airbus A32X on approach into London which was similar to the first one from A330-300. It is just like a volcano. Unbelievable.

I truly believed it was that Volcano in Vanuatu, that has erupted again this week….when they said Hemel Hempstead, i was shocked!

I have to agree – that’s is probably one of the most powerful shots I’ve ever seen! 😮

How about this one…

Heathrow had freezing fog this morning so that was the delay, not the smoke really. The weather reports say no problems with smoke.

They have reduced the numbers holding at Bovingdon, so that would mean that the smoke is effecting ops

Blimey! What a shot 😮

I have to agree – that’s is probably one of the most powerful shots I’ve ever seen! 😮

Armageddon?

Now that is an impressive shot!

Apparently, it is being said now that there hasn’t been an explosion like this since the end of the second world war.

Blimey! What a shot 😮