Öl: Discover Airlines kann in Namibia nicht genug Kerosin tanken

A fuel shortage in Namibia has affected the Kerosene supply for Discover Airlines, a subsidiary of Lufthansa. The holiday airline revealed on Thursday that flights from Namibia's capital Windhoek to Frankfurt and Munich would require a refueling stop in Luanda, Angola. On Wednesday and Thursday, the daily return flight to Frankfurt had to be halted for refueling in Luanda, as explained by a Discover spokesperson.

Altogether, the airline operates ten weekly routes from Germany to Windhoek. Lufthansa added that Swiss subsidiary Edelweiss could also be affected by the locally limited, temporary fuel shortage. Disruptions from oil supply from the Gulf countries due to the Iran war had already caused kerosene supply shortages in Asia. Europe hadn't experienced any outages as airlines cancelled flights and demand slightly decreased.

Suppliers from the USA and Nigeria partially filled the gap, while European refineries increased kerosene production. Lufthansa had announced in spring that tank stops might be necessary on some long-haul flights. A contingency plan involved temporarily grounding aircraft in case of larger supply problems. Deutsche-Lufthansa-CEO Carsten Spohr reaffirmed that kerosene supply was stable.

It remained unclear how many Namibia travelers were affected by Discover Airlines. Flights operated by the Lufthansa were supposed to start in Windhoek as planned. The fuel supplier and airline ground staff were currently reviewing all options to return to normal supply. The kerosene supplier Vivo Energy could not be reached for comment.

Passengers who missed connecting flights due to delays were supposed to be automatically rebooked by Lufthansa. Freight transport could also be impacted. The operator of Windhoek Airport, the Namibia Airports Company (NAC), said the problems with kerosene supply at the country's main airport were known. Measures were taken to minimize disruptions while maintaining airport operations.