A new working group has been set up to work on improving the jet fuel supply to Auckland Airport. 

The first focus of the group will be the fuel storage location at Auckland Airport. The current JUHI storage near the domestic terminal will need to move by 2035 at the latest to accommodate new terminal buildings. The new JUHI location will be chosen based on safety, cost, operations, land use and constructability – to make sure we get the storage location right for the future of the airport.

The decision on storage location at the airport will also drive decisions on improving capacity on the current fuel pipeline from Wiri to the Airport and on whether we need extra jet fuel storage at Wiri and how much.

Once these issues are resolved, the group will then consider the upstream supply chain from the Marsden Point refinery to Wiri. 

The working group includes Auckland Airport, Air New Zealand, the oil companies and BARNZ. BARNZ will provide regular updates on the group’s progress, so watch this space.

In the meantime, Refining NZ has reported making good progress on monitoring and analysis of the pipeline from Marsden Point to Wiri, so that incidents like the pipeline outage in September 2017 should be detected and resolved much more quickly.

Refining NZ is also developing a facility for fast truck refuelling at Marsden Point. This can provide some back-up supply during any future pipeline outage. It is up to individual airlines to discuss using this option with their fuel supplier.