The travel plans of 150 passengers transiting through Monserrat from Antigua, have been affected by a shortage of aviation gasoline – Avgas – as none of the fuel trucks are said to be working.
The 150 passengers are for the period from Thursday, October 6 to Tuesday, October 11, 2022.
According to an online post by Discover Monserrat, there were no flights into the island as the Antigua airport is “without a working fuel truck”.
When Observer reached out to Yuletta Francis, the CEO at the V.C Bird International Airport, she confirmed being aware of the issue and said the supplier is working to have the truck fixed.
Tourism authorities in Monserrat said flights have not been able to travel in and out of Montserrat since Thursday, due to the lack of a working fuel engine provided by Signature Flight Support.
Ashley Lindsay, Director of the Access Division in the Office of the Premier said that they were made aware of the issue on Thursday but learned the full extent of the matter early Friday.
Avgas is used for smaller aircrafts such as Fly Montserrat.
While Discover Monserrat reported that regional and international travel was also affected, Francis denied those claims, insisting that jet fuel used for larger aircrafts are not affected. And as such, international travelers in Antigua would not be affected.
Lindsay told Observer that Signature has promised to provide an update tomorrow (Saturday) evening and is working steadily to see how soon they can get the situation sorted.
Services such as DHL and other express shipping companies that rely on the two local airlines, Fly Montserrat and SVG / ABM Air, are also being impacted by the cancellations.
The problem is exacerbated for Montserrat as flights are currently the only way passengers can visit the island. Montserrat has not had a regular ferry service since September 2020.