By Carin Smith.
Airports Company SA (ACSA) is stepping in to ensure that Russian planes can be refuelled at its South African airports.
Last year, two Russian planes could not get fuel from the large international fuel suppliers at OR Tambo and Cape Town International Airports. These fuel suppliers had to adhere to the sanctions imposed on Russia by their countries of origin and their own company policies.
Various Western countries, including the US and UK, imposed sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine a year ago.
Currently, ACSA outsources the refuelling service at its airports to major oil companies and so-called through-putters to supply and refuel planes at its airports. A “through-putter” performs fuelling services to aircraft.
The refusal by jet fuel suppliers and through-putters to refuel Russian planes was on the agenda of a briefing by ACSA of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport on Tuesday.
ANC committee members asked ACSA for an assurance that South Africa – which has not sanctioned Russia – won’t “indirectly impose” sanctions on planes from that country because jet fuel suppliers or through-putters refuse to refuel Russian planes.
ACSA CEO Mpumi Mpofu explained that historically, the supply of fuel is not handled by an airport management company.
“We issue licences to all major oil companies so they can supply jet fuel to refuel aircraft on their platforms. Airlines decide which jet fuel supplier they use. That arrangement is outside of ACSA,” said Mpofu.
“This then forces ACSA to align with the stance the oil companies’ headquarters and home countries take in terms of sanctions against Russia. Our board has now approved a revised jet fuel strategy to look after these types of situations so that ACSA can be in full control of who gets refuelled.”
‘Sanctioned friend of the government’
So now ACSA plans to implement a new refuelling arrangement to allow it to provide fuel to Russian planes – or any other planes it wants to for that matter.
Currently, the large fuel suppliers lease airport fuel storage and hydrant facilities from ACSA. They own their own equipment and vehicles to get jet fuel into planes. ACSA has an agreement with the oil companies that they can manage the fuel facilities and operations directly.
But now, ACSA wants to create a new process whereby oil companies only supply the fuel. A new independent operator will manage the facilities on ACSA’s behalf. The independent operator will operate the tanks and fuel hydrant and the oil companies will have to pay a fee to the operator.
The oil companies will then only supply the jet fuel and have no say about the refuelling of planes.
According to a presentation by ACSA, this will deal with a scenario “where a sanctioned friend of the South African government needs servicing and refuelling”.
“Refusal by Fuel Consortium members or through-putters to refuel aircraft from countries with sanctions against them, will be averted,” Mpofu told the committee.