In response to those remarks, and following concerns being raised by airlines within the bloc, on 20 April, the European Commission unveiled plans to propose a jet fuel sharing mechanism to the 27 member states of the European Union.
According to the EU’s energy commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, any such proposal would ensure that limited stocks are used more efficiently as concerns grow over the availability of jet fuel should the deadlock in the Strait continue./
“We need to be quite honest and say that the situation will become quite serious, and this is why we will be introducing these measures,” Jørgensen told the Financial Times.
He noted that initial concerns regarding the rising price of oil had since become more focused on the issue of availability, with airlines already beginning to cut flights and reduce flying as a result of those concerns.
We aim to make sure that we don’t have regions, airports, or even member states that are hit disproportionately harder by this,” he added.
While exact details of how the mechanism could work in practice are yet to be disclosed, there would appear to be some urgency as to when these details might be disclosed, with numerous airlines already warning of possible flight disruptions in May and June unless a solution can be found in the meantime.
