United Airlines Cancels Johannesburg Flights Over Fuel Shortage

United Airlines' Newark-Johannesburg route is presently facing disruption due to a fuel shortage at the South African airport. The carrier, which has been serving this aerial corridor for just under a year, has already been forced to make several cancelations on the route. These cuts have impacted flights in both directions.

The route in a nutshell

To understand the nature of the issue facing United, it is important to establish its presence on the route. It began flying between Newark Liberty International (EWR) and Johannesburg OR Tambo International (JNB) last June. This marked a return to South Africa for the carrier, which had suspended its Newark-Cape Town route.

United doesn't plan to return to Cape Town until June, when it will reconnect the city with Newark on a thrice-weekly basis. However, its Newark-Johannesburg route is already alive and kicking. Indeed, tracking data from FlightRadar24.com shows that it is scheduled to serve the corridor with a daily flight in each direction.

United currently has a monopoly on flights between Johannesburg and Newark. As Simple Flying reported at the time of the route's launch, it has been able to cash in on the gap in the market left by South African Airways' struggles. The daily flights use Boeing 787-9s that feature United's Polaris and Premium Plus cabins.

Fuel shortages cause disruption

Unfortunately, in recent days, United's Newark-Johannesburg flights (and vice versa) haven't been able to operate on their usual daily basis. This is reportedly due to a fuel shortage at the South African city's OR Tambo International Airport, which has forced the US legacy carrier to cut its operations on the route for now.

Last week and over the weekend, FlightRadar24 showed that things were especially difficult in the Johannesburg-Newark direction. Flight UA187 was canceled on April 21st, and the departures on the 22nd and 23rd both left over an hour late. Yesterday's iteration left punctually, but today's has been canceled outright.

Source : " Simple Flying "