Freetown International Airport has grounded operations to international flights coming in and out of Sierra Leone for almost the whole of last week due to the shortage of JETA1 fuel at the Airport.
Moses Tiffa Baio, Director General Sierra of the Leone Civil Aviation Authority, has in a public notice confirmed the unavailability of the fuel at the Airport, noting that Total Sierra Leone have informed them that, due to maintenance of their storage facilities in the country, there will be shortage of fuel.
He also continued that the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority was assured of enough fuel in store at Lungi to cover the maintenance period, but this was further depleted due to circumstances in Liberia, which necessitated an increase in fuel intake by airlines at the Freetown International Airport.
This, according to the SLCAA, placed huge pressure on the stocks intake in Lungi leading to the unexpected shortage.
“However, Total Sierra Leone Ltd., the only dealer of JETA1 fuel product in Sierra Leone, has placed in an order of 198,000 litres, which is expected to arrive over the weekend in Freetown to cover for the maintenance period,” the public notice reads.
The SLCAA Director General also informed the general public that a Notice to men (NOTAM) has been issued and the affected airlines have been mandated to inform all travelling passengers within this period.
The Notice assures the public that the government has taken appropriate measures to avoid similar repetition, and expressed their sincere regret for what this would have caused to the families and the country.
This state of affairs, according to an inside source at the Lungi International Airport, has caused a lot of embarrassment and a huge economic loss to people both inside and outside Sierra Leone, who had appointments to attend to conferences and other very important functions abroad.