Consumption of jet fuel dips for the first time in six years
Jet fuel consumption in Kenya dropped by six percent in the year ending June 2026, marking the first decline in six years due to regional airspace closures caused by the US-Iran conflict. Conversely, consumption of other petroleum products like diesel and petrol reached record highs despite rising prices.
Why it matters
The data illustrates how geopolitical instability directly impacts the aviation industry while domestic demand for ground transportation fuel remains resilient to price hikes.
Jet fuel consumption dropped for the first time in six years, bucking a trend of growth among the other types of petroleum products despite record-high prices.
An analysis of data from the energy regulator shows that aircraft consumed 862.45 million litres of jet fuel in the year ended June 2026, marking a six percent drop from 917.45 million litres a year ago. The drop is a first in six years, with the other fall being a 24.9 percent dip to 543.07 million litres in the year to June 2021.
The drop came at a time when the US-Iran war triggered regional closures of airspace in the Middle East and the grounding of major international flights, hitting traffic of international aircraft at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the Moi International Airport in Mombasa.
Read: Emergency jet fuel import averts JKIA, Moi shortage
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in