Monday
23rd Dec 2024
Dhivehi Edition
An airplane of Maldivian. Photo: TMJ
A flight of the national carrier, Maldivian, was delayed after Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) refused to refuel the flight at Velana International Airport.
The flight, from Male’ to Dhaka, Bangladesh, was delayed by 45 minutes on Tuesday morning.
Reports say that Maldivian had requested for 11,000 liters; MACL had provided only 9,000 liters. Maldivian had refused to depart. MACL had later on provided the required amount of jet fuel.
Following this event, Maldivian had informed all their captains in the international sector to fuel up from other destinations. As such, the captain of the Dhaka-bound Q2 503 flight was instructed to bring in four tons of jet fuel from Dhaka.
MACL is facing significant losses, after a jet fuel shortage forced the company to ration out jet fuel sold to airlines. Jet fuel sale earnings is expected to take a strong hit, with Air Asia already suspending cargo services to the Maldives.
A senior official at MACL said that one of the reasons for the fuel shortage was due to MACL refusing to operate the fuel storage tanks built under the previous administration.
The main fuel supplier to the country, Fuel Supply Maldives (FSM) had limited the sale of fuel to corporate clients. With the latest price hikes, a petrol liter now costs MVR 16.55 (US$ 1.08) and a diesel liter costs MVR 16.77 (US$ 1.09).