Lack of jet fuel grounds SA plane in Livingstone

Lack of jet fuel grounds SA plane in Livingstone
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Sun 22 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT

A SOUTH African aircraft is stranded in Livingstone following a shortage of jet fuel which has hit the tourist capital for a week.

And one crew member who opted anonymity said it is unheard of for an international airport to run out of jet fuel.

According to a source at the airport, the chartered South African Boeing 737-MSN 21959 aircraft landed at the Livingstone International Airport after 13 hours on Friday from the Democratic Republic of Congo enroute to South Africa with over 30 passengers and crew.

“There was confusion at the airport on Friday when the white and red aircraft registration number ZS PVU landed for re-fuelling. We understand that the pilot of the aircraft had first landed in Ndola but was told that there is no fuel so he decided to fly to Livingstone where again BP officials told the pilot that they did not have the fuel,” the source said.

The source added that in the midst of the confusion, some of the passengers managed to fly out to South Africa aboard a British Airways aircraft.

“Despite this, 17 other passengers were not so lucky as there was no space on the British Airways airline, so we understand that they had to be accommodated at the Zambezi Sun hoping that they would fly out to South Africa today Saturday. BP officials say that they may only have jet fuel next week so this plane will be here for a long time,” the source said.

The source added that the passengers who were mine workers in the DRC were going back to South Africa for festive holidays.

And in an interview, the aircraft crew members said they were hired to fly the aircraft from the DRC.

“Please no names. we are just helping out this airline we belong to Inter Air. it is however sad that the seven of us and 17 other passengers have to spend a night here and we hope we can get space on a British Airways flight today (Friday). It is sad that an airport cannot have fuel. This is unheard of,” said a visibly annoyed crew member.

Zambia has been experiencing serious fuel shortages for a couple of weeks now, fuelling fears of a critical economic breakdown if the situation is left unattended.