Lufthansa has had to resort to an unusual solution due to a kerosene shortage at Johannesburg Airport. After landing in South Africa, the planes initially fly empty to Windhoek in Namibia to refuel there before taking off back to Frankfurt. The reason for the fuel shortage is a fire in a refinery on January 4, which continues to affect supplies.
The restrictions are expected to last until the second half of February. Lufthansa is trying to maintain operations on the highly popular route between Frankfurt and Johannesburg without additional stopovers for passengers. An additional crew will remain on site to fly the Boeing 747 directly to Namibia. The refueling stop in Windhoek has already been carried out successfully several times, so there have been no major delays so far.
The effects of the kerosene shortage affect not only Lufthansa, but also other airlines. Airlines have to adapt their refueling strategies or find alternative sources of supply. It is currently unclear whether the shortages will continue beyond February.
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