Japan’s jet fuel crunch hits Narita, one of its biggest airports

A jet fuel shortage in Japan that’s been impacting the nation’s domestic airports has now expanded to one of its largest aerodromes.

Narita airport in Tokyo said the fuel crunch was affecting operations of six Asian carriers and the plans of some 57 flights a week currently. It didn’t name the six airlines.

“We need to increase fuel suppliers and have requested the government and distributors to directly receive fuel from overseas as well,” Akihiko Tamura, the chief executive officer of Narita International Airport Corp., said.

Narita airport has “requested domestic distributors ensure a stable supply” but at present they “haven’t been able to increase volumes sufficiently,” Tamura added.

A boom in international travel is boosting global jet fuel consumption with flights from Asia forecast to climb by 23% in 2024 from last year, according to BloombergNEF. Due to a weak yen, Japan is witnessing a sharp uptick in inbound travel and the government is aiming to attract around 60 million international tourists annually by 2030.

The country’s biggest oil refiner Eneos Holdings Inc. has been fielding calls from carriers and is working with the government to ease the problem, Bloomberg reported eariler this month. Factors such as labor shortages at airports and logistical bottlenecks all contribute to the fuel not reaching destinations, Eneos said.

Some 3.3 million people traveled through Narita airport in May, up 27% from the same period last year, the airport said Thursday.