On Wednesday, the Zimbabwean flag carrier Air Zimbabwe released a statement advising flight schedule disruptions due to jet fuel shortages. The measures reflect a regional fuel supply crisis that has caused trouble for several airline operations over the past few weeks.The airline made no mention of specific services. The only ones canceled over the past week have been flights between Harare and Johannesburg in South Africa. However, other airports in Africa, such as Dakar International in Senegal (although Air Zimbabwe does not operate to Dakar specifically), temporarily needed to suspend refueling services for two weeks last month. Meanwhile, also in April, Malawi Airlines needed to cut baggage weight by 70% to carry extra fuel from South Africa because of shortages at home.The wholly state-owned Zimbabwean airline did not disclose where the specific supply issue was and simply said ‘at the airports’. It is unclear whether or not Harare’s Robert Gabriel Mugabe International is suffering from shortages or not. A statement issued yesterday, May 11, read,

“Air Zimbabwe wishes to advise its valued passengers and other stakeholders of an anticipated flight schedule disruption due to Jet A1 fuel shortages at the airports. Our suppliers have advised of constraints in the movement of the product which has cascaded along the entire value chain to us as the final consumer of the product.”

Air Zimbabwe said it would endeavor to update passengers on the applicable changes at the earliest possible time as it continues to monitor the situation.