Luxembourg Airport is idling for lack of fuel

Directly impacted by the rising water levels that occurred in Luxembourg on Thursday, Luxembourg Airport (Findel) on Friday found itself unable to operate normally due to the rupture of the pipe dedicated to the kerosene supply, a situation that is bound to last.

A collateral victim of the floods, Findel finds itself deprived of its direct supply of kerosene, the Ministry of Mobility confirmed on Friday. The reason is the rupture of part of the NATO pipeline network which supplies Luxembourg airport with kerosene. The problem would be on German territory, also strongly impacted by the bad weather of recent days.

“The analysis of the incident by experts and technicians in the field is currently proving very complicated after the massive floods in the Echternach region“, indicates Friday the ministry which specifies that the supply difficulties “will last several days“. Faced with this situation, the airlines operating at Findel are asked to “keep sufficient fuel for a return flight or to plan a landing and/or take-off at another airport in the region“.

For Luxair, the currently stored fuel reserves must be exhausted on Friday, according to data put forward by the Ministry of Mobility. But its CEO Gilles Feith said that not flying is not an option.

A NATO-certified airport, Luxembourg Findel is supplied by a system of pipelines some 5,300 kilometres long which serves five countries. Called the Central European Pipeline System (CEPS), the system connects 36 depots with a total capacity of one million m³ and eleven refineries located near the six sea entrances installed between the North Sea, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

Source: Luxemburger Wort

UPDATE

The problem was solved on the evening of 16 July. There hasn’t been any shortage of fuel at Luxembourg Findel since that date.