Cheshire oil refinery expands its UK aviation footprint

Essar Oil (UK), which owns and operates the Stanlow manufacturing complex in Ellesmere Port, today has extended its aviation portfolio to include Cardiff Airport.

The refinery has begun supplying jet fuel directly to airlines at the Welsh airport, with new deals having already been secured with various carriers that operate flights from the facility.

Essar said these agreements demonstrate further the continued success of its aviation fuels business, with direct supply arrangements now in place with carriers at five major airports across the UK – Manchester, Birmingham, London Stansted, Leeds-Bradford and Cardiff.

Direct supplies involve Essar holding the contractual relationship with the end user, or the airlines. The refinery supplies Liverpool John Lennon Airport on an indirect basis, where the airport then sells Essar’s fuel on to the airlines.

Adam Brayne, aviation and business development manager at Essar, said: “Adding Cardiff Airport to our UK network is a further chapter in our growth story, as Essar continues to support major airlines through what we hope will be a recovery period for the sector.

“We look forward to a successful partnership with the airport and are delighted to have already secured direct business with a number of key airline customers there.”

David Walters, chief financial officer of Cardiff Airport, said: “We have been working hard to ensure suitable choice is available to our airline partners at Cardiff Airport, and we are very pleased that Essar has agreed to work with us as a new long term fuel partner.

“We really look forward to working closely with the company, as we welcome more flights and airlines back to Cardiff.”