Critical fuel shortages for commercial flights at airports across the country have led to difficulties in increasing the number of international flights, according to Japan Today.
Industry and government sources said Saturday that the surge in demand for air travel due to an increase in inbound tourism has exceeded the capacity of refineries. They said the problem was further compounded by the shortage of labour at the distribution stage.
The problem threatens to weaken efforts to revitalise the regional economy through international tourism ahead of the peak summer holiday season, as a consequence of which government ministries need to assess the situation for countermeasures.
New Chitose, Asahikawa and Obihiro airports in Hokkaido also suffered from fuel shortages. Plus, the National Governors Association is considering asking the central government to take action as airports in some regions of Kansai, Shikoku and Kyushu are facing difficulties. Sendai Airport in northeastern Japan remained untouched, but the airline administration expressed concern about fuel shortages.
The Hiroshima Prefectural Government in western Japan said a foreign airline had to revise plans to increase the number of flights to and from Hiroshima Airport in Asia due to insufficient fuel supply.
The problem extends to the fact that in Japan, oil wholesalers contracted to supply passenger aircraft with fuel derived from crude oil. This leads to a situation where oil trade cannot increase as traders consolidate capacity in anticipation of a medium to long term decline in demand for petroleum products. There is an option to sell imported fuel as a temporary measure, but they face the risk of being unprofitable.
