Two Fuels for Two Very Different Engines
Jet fuel, designated Jet A or Jet A-1, powers turbine engines on commercial airliners, cargo aircraft, and business jets. It is a kerosene-based product refined to perform reliably from scorching runways to sub-zero conditions at cruising altitude. Avgas, or aviation gasoline, fuels piston-engine aircraft in general aviation. The most common grade is 100LL, which still contains lead to prevent engine knock in high-compression piston engines. At a major commercial airport, nearly everything on the apron runs on jet fuel.
The Starting Point Is Crude Oil
Both fuels begin as crude oil, extracted from reservoirs onshore and offshore across producing regions worldwide. At the refinery, crude is heated in a distillation column and separated into components by boiling point. Jet fuel comes from the kerosene fraction, which is then hydrotreated to remove sulphur, filtered, and blended with additives covering antioxidants, corrosion inhibitors, static dissipators, and antifreezes. Every batch is tested against a detailed specification before leaving the refinery.
How Fuel Travels from Refinery to Region
The primary method of moving large volumes of refined fuel is the pipeline network. In the United States, pipelines connect major refining centres to distribution points across the country, carrying different fuel types in sequence and tracking each batch with sophisticated monitoring systems. Pipelines can move enormous volumes continuously regardless of weather conditions. For major hub airports consuming millions of gallons per day, pipeline supply is not optional — trucking equivalent quantities would be logistically impossible.
Fuel Farms and the Airport Reserve
Fuel arriving via pipeline goes first into a fuel farm near the airport — large cylindrical storage tanks that hold reserves of several million gallons at major hubs. The fuel farm is an active quality control checkpoint. Arriving fuel is sampled and tested for water contamination, particulate matter, and specification compliance before being accepted into the tanks. Stock levels are monitored continuously, and tanks are sized to provide a buffer measured in days rather than hours.
Getting Fuel from the Farm to the Wing
Two methods are used to fuel aircraft on the apron. Fuel trucks load from the storage farm and drive to the aircraft, and are common at smaller airports. At major airports, hydrant systems handle the bulk of fuelling — underground pipelines run beneath the apron to fuelling points at each gate, and a hydrant dispenser vehicle connects to the subsurface pipeline, meters and filters the fuel, and delivers it to the aircraft without driving large volumes of fuel across the airfield.
The Scale of a Major Airport Fuel Operation
A single long-haul widebody aircraft can take on 60,000 to 80,000 gallons for a transoceanic flight. A medium-haul narrowbody on a domestic route might take 5,000 to 15,000 gallons. Multiplied across hundreds of daily departures, major hub airports consume many millions of gallons per day. This demand requires continuous pipeline supply, large storage capacity, and highly coordinated distribution. A fuel supply disruption at a major hub does not only affect one flight — delays cascade across the entire network of aircraft scheduled throughout the day.
Redundancy as a Design Principle
Because fuel supply failure has severe consequences, redundancy is built in at multiple levels. Major airports typically maintain multiple supply routes so disruption to one can be offset by another. Fuel farms are sized to buffer several days of demand. Emergency fuelling via road tankers exists as a last resort. Refineries, pipeline operators, and airport fuel operators coordinate under normal conditions and have established protocols for disruptions. The result is a supply chain that, from the traveller's perspective, is essentially invisible.
Where Aviation Fuel Is Heading
Sustainable Aviation Fuel, produced from feedstocks including used cooking oil, agricultural waste, and municipal solid waste, can be blended with conventional jet fuel and used in existing aircraft without modification. It produces significantly lower lifecycle carbon emissions than petroleum-based jet fuel. The challenge is scale — global SAF production currently accounts for a fraction of a percent of aviation fuel demand. Existing pipeline, farm, and hydrant infrastructure is compatible with SAF blends, so the investment required for the transition is concentrated in the production supply chain rather than the airport distribution end.