BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian airlines Avianca and Latam Colombia said late Monday that they would operate most of their flights on Tuesday and resume full schedules on Wednesday, after previously warning that they would have to cancel dozens of flights due to fuel shortages.
Avianca said it had received confirmation from the country’s largest jet fuel supplier that there would no longer be restrictions on fuel supplies to airlines. The company can now sell tickets for all its routes and operate its scheduled flights again, it said.
Latam Colombia said it would resume normal flight operations on Wednesday and that passengers whose flights were canceled on Tuesday had been rebooked on other flights the same day. Latam had already announced on Monday that 36 flights would be canceled for Tuesday due to a lack of fuel.
The late announcements by the airlines, which carry more than 70 percent of Colombia’s domestic passenger traffic, capped a turbulent day for the Colombian aviation industry, which left hundreds of passengers grounded and others struggling to rebook their flights.
On Sunday, Colombia’s state-owned oil company Ecopetrol announced that it had imported 100,000 barrels of jet fuel to ensure supplies to national airlines after they complained that they were not receiving enough fuel from their suppliers.
The crisis arose after a power outage interrupted the production of jet fuel at an Ecopetrol refinery in the city of Cartagena on August 16. In a letter to airlines on August 21, local fuel supplier Terpel said the disruption had forced it to reduce the amount of fuel it could sell at the country’s airports.
On Monday, Ecopetrol President Ricardo Roa said jet fuel production had resumed, but criticized fuel traders for not importing enough fuel to meet rising demand.
President Gustavo Petro stated on his account X that there was no shortage of kerosene in the country, but rather an “irregular situation” that was being “investigated”. Transport Minister María Constanza García said that although there was enough kerosene in the country, the airports were currently experiencing “logistical” problems.
The Civil Aviation Authority issued a decree on Sunday allowing airlines to cancel flights between August 28 and September 4 if fuel was not available. But late Monday evening, the authority announced that the decree had been lifted because there was now enough kerosene in the country to operate all scheduled flights.
In a statement Monday evening, Avianca CEO Federico Pedreira said he was surprised and pleased by the news that jet fuel supplies had returned to normal.
“However, the situation shows that supply chain members need to identify problems early and communicate with each other to provide more clarity on fuel stocks and availability,” Pedreira said.
