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AIR BP fuel app

I still fail to see any substance, T.

Ordering your fuel in advance is a great way of reducing those ‘what if’ scenarios, so you know the fuel supply will be there on arrival

How does this system ensure that fuel will be available? If it is in the ground tanks (or in the bowser) then it will be available. If it has been sold to others before I arrive, or the airport let it run down and didn’t re-order in time, then it won’t be available. If the pump man is filling up a Ryanair when I turn up, I won’t be getting fuel for a while.

So, sorry, I don’t see where the advantage is, in the real world.

the ability to pay directly with a credit / debit-card without needing to become a full BP customer

That is surely incidental because since AIR BP took over Statoil, getting a real AIR BP card is pretty well essential for a GA pilot, especially if flying in France. Getting an AIR BP card is easy.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

If I am at a self service place and I cannot work out how the pump works (menus in French or German despite the pump knowing from my card number that they should be in English) I still can’t get fuel, and have to call up ATC to send somebody along, or find a local pilot.

Have you tried google translate (the one where you just hold the camera in front of the text – doesn’t need internet connection)

Yes; along with many others I use that on restaurant menus, etc, but I can’t see where the AIR BP app helps with physically getting fuel

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I think it comes down to a very simple thing: the maniac desire of the UK people to “book” things in advance which actually and logically don’t require any booking.

The thing that comes to mind is PPR at airports which are open and operational anyway.

I get the same in the business sector that I am working in. In the UK, I need to “book” in advance, where, in the rest of Europe, one doesn’t have to, because the people / facilities are there anyway, waiting for your business.

Booking fuel in advance doesn’t achieve anything (as Peter explained), and would be yet one more thing to be done before going flying. We shouldn’t start with that, since if we do, one day, airports will start asking “PPR for GA fuelling”, for “planning purposes”.

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

The advantage for me of this app is that i can see easily in US$ terms what the AirBP price is and compare with UvAir. Even when AirBp is the provider sometimes other cards are cheaper or vice versa in the case of Sweden today. For an Avgas user iI guess I just dont see the point other than maybe the payment issue described below for a casual purchaser who doesnt want to get an AirBP card. The only reason to send a fuel release (pre order) is if it gets you cheaper fuel.

Last Edited by JasonC at 08 Nov 15:50
EGTK Oxford

OK; that makes sense.

However you still need the physical AIR BP card for all those self service machines…

That’s unless AIR BP give them all internet access so you could use a smartphone app to pay for the fuel, which would be slick, but I cannot see that happening. It would require, at each fuel pump, a landline (telephone) connection or GPRS/3G/4G. That’s a lot of money, and rental costs, for very little since most people using them already have the physical card.

I know a bizjet pilot who has a fuel release scheme – obviously Jet A1.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I see now that the “RocketRoute Fuel” app is updated and available for iPhone’s too.

LGMG Megara, Greece

I have an Air BP card and also installed the app (on my iphone – it works there too).

I gave a bit of feedback to Air BP, but didn’t receive any response. I tried to test the app by looking up Bastia LFKB and if anything it discouraged me from refuelling there because I wasn’t confident how much it would cost me.

The listed price, with Duty & VAT breakdown giving a total is nice but it is not clear which total would apply to me (private GA SEP). The first Total is for international or commercial, the second is for internal or private. So if I am international and private, which applies?

It is then followed by a paragraph with one single flow of words. No sentences or punctuation other than “:” making it very difficult to read. I found the “may apply” to be just a bit too vague for my liking, considering that the amounts could easily increase the total fuel bill by over 50% given that most SEP have less than 350Ltr tanks. Things like “stock reserve fee” and “airport fee” with prices per cubic meter, “hook-up fee” of 50 Euro per operation, and the real killer was the 50 Euro “no fuel fee” if no pre-advice is given via handling agent before landing. The app isn’t clear if ordering via the app meets this pre-advice requirement. I certainly wouldn’t want to just turn up at Bastia … :-(

Vince

LSZK, Switzerland

Don’t waste any time with it. The app and the whole (weird) idea of pre-booking fuel is geared towards the big end of GA only.

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany
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