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Fuel crisis: No aviation fuel shortage: CAASL Director

22 May 2022

By Skandha Gunasekara The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) yesterday (21) refuted claims on social media about a shortage in aviation fuel at airports in Sri Lanka and that some flights had been diverted. CAASL Director (Air Transport and Economic Regulations) Rayhan Wanniappa, speaking to The Sunday Morning, rejected the allegations. “Planes are not being diverted. We have enough fuel stock at present. There are no plans to divert flights to India for fuel,” Wanniappa told The Sunday Morning. Reports on social media of flights being rerouted to India for fuelling purposes as the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake did not have fuel stocks were circulating on social media in recent days. With the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery shut down for several months, domestic production of kerosene has come to a standstill. Kerosene is widely used by fisheries and rural communities, and more recently there has been an increased demand in urban areas due to supply shortages of LPG used for cooking. Fuel used for jet aircrafts is similar to kerosene and with shortages of kerosene in the market, Sri Lanka has had to import jet fuel for consumers as well as for aviation. Attempts to contact the newly-appointed Minister of Aviation and SriLankan Airlines on the allegation about the fuel shortage proved futile.    


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