A number of flights were delayed this morning at a busy international airport following problems with fuel supplies.
Thirteen flights due to leave Manchester Airport were stuck on the Tarmac without enough fuel to depart.
Most were delayed for less that 30 minutes, but a flight to Tunisia scheduled to leave at 6am was delayed for two-and-a-half hours.
The airport put right the problem last night. But a handful of airlines waiting to refuel to leave the airport will not be able to draw on the replenished stocks until 8.30am.
An airport spokesman said: “We have got a very small number of delays first thing this morning while airlines wait for fuel to be back available on the airfield.
“Most of the flights are operating normally. There were no cancellations, no diversions, and most of the airlines have made contingency plans for fuel.
“There have been a small number of delays while airlines that have brought a single load of fuel wait for fuel at 8.30am.
“Fuel supplies have been completely restored, we are just waiting for the tanks to fill and then we will release it to the hydrants. Then it will be back to business as usual.”
Production problems at its supplier, the Essar refinery, near Ellesmere Port on Merseyside, meant that Manchester Airport didn’t have enough aviation fuel.
The airport uses around three million litres of aviation fuel per day. This is the equivalent of 79 road tankers, which carry approximately 38,000 litres per vehicle.
The fuel supply comes from the refinery via a pipeline which is capable of pumping 250,000 litres an hour.
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