Avgas Price Differences

wilkersk

wilkersk

En-Route
Joined
May 21, 2015
Messages
2,737
Location
Puget Sound
Display Name
KennyW
Home Airfield
KBVS
I wonder if there's an Avgas liquid inventory system that helps vendors manage inventory and set prices. It seems like there's alway places that always have the highest price that us typical GA pilots try very hard to avoid, those that always seem to run out of 100LL during the best weather days, and those that consistently have the lowest prices and yet rarely run out. Have they got better software, better management, or what?

PS: I know Friday Harbor is going to have a higher price because of location. But $7.04/gal just seems eye-popping compared to others.

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I do know they have to pay a lot on the ferry for hazardous loads, it might be a special ferry trip or barge. Seems like they'd be ahead to have a pretty large tank.
 
Yeah, with a ferry as the only way to bring fuel, it makes sense that prices are higher.

In other cases, it seems like the high fuel prices are tied to one of our favorite FBO chains, where the amount of fuel needed to be purchased to waive ramp/handling fees seems to be the difference between buying the same amount of fuel at a nearby airport and paying the ramp/handling fees.
 
It's all about overhead. Any place run primarily as a business is going to charge the rate that maximizes profit. Other facilities may have different goals, such as keeping the tenants happy or attracting visitors. Small county or municipal airports may be subsidized.
 
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Here’s my home field- KUIN vs all the other airports in the area. It was always higher, Quincy is full service, but it wasn’t this extreme of a difference until the last couple of years.

I’ve met more Quincy pilots at the fuel pump at KHAE in the past year than I’ve met at Quincy’s FBO in the last decade.

I’ve got no idea what their overhead or costs look like but I do absolutely know they’re costing themselves a lot of sales by keeping that price so high.
 
wilkersk said:
I wonder if there's an Avgas liquid inventory system that helps vendors manage inventory and set prices. It seems like there's alway places that always have the highest price that us typical GA pilots try very hard to avoid, those that always seem to run out of 100LL during the best weather days, and those that consistently have the lowest prices and yet rarely run out. Have they got better software, better management, or what?

PS: I know Friday Harbor is going to have a higher price because of location. But $7.04/gal just seems eye-popping compared to others.

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No, there is not an inventory system. Airports run out because they failed to order fuel in advance of running out. The prices differences can be credited in part to charges the airport receives from each gallon of fuel, the amount of rent an airport charges the FBO for building and ramp rent. The remainder is good old capitalism. You pay for an higher level of service and the seller getting the highest price for a good / service being sold.
 
Gary Ward said:
Wow you would have be pretty well off in Alaska to be able to fly every day at 9:50 a gallon for av gas.
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Pretty sure some of those remote village strips are skewing the average up there. When it gets hauled in by 55 gallon drum on an old C-46, it costs more.
 
You should smell one of those drum tankers sitting on the ramp.

When the crew finished their preflight, I moved a hundred yards up wind, in case of fireball. Fairbanks.

The radials cranked up without backfire, and props blew away the danger.

NOBODY parks near them.
 
I set my fuel price with a ~$1.00 minimum profit, depending on what the local competitors are selling for. Some airport’s will use their federal subsidies to offset fuel costs and can then sell near cost and be the lowest around. The fact is, most people won’t fly 50nm+ to save .10c/gal.

The other part is, with contract fuel, the more fuel that a certain facility pumps, the lower they might be able to get it delivered for, so that will affect their advertised price. Lots of variables at play.
 
As noted previously, cost of delivery can be significant.

There are no aviation gas refineries within 250 miles of Washington DC.

The refinery charges the round trip cost of a tractor trailer tanker in addition to the WVA price of gas.

Your tank can only hold half a truck, too bad, they only have big ones.

Necessarily, you do not order until the tank is near empty. If you run out, it is still better than paying for one third of a tanker plus the delivery charge.


With less than 30 active planes on the field, the flow per month is tiny. One year they went 9 months on half a tanker of gas.

Sometimes it is possible to cut a deal with another low flow airport nearby to share a tanker trip, but the odds are slim two will be low at the same time.
 
geezer said:
You should smell one of those drum tankers sitting on the ramp.

When the crew finished their preflight, I moved a hundred yards up wind, in case of fireball. Fairbanks.

The radials cranked up without backfire, and props blew away the danger.

NOBODY parks near them.
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I was in Ambler, AK one time unloading freight and mail when a C-54 landed. Man, I thought they were there to possibly abandon the wreck they just flew in. The plane looked like a massive flying fuel/oil leak.

Nope, it was a fuel plane out of Fairbanks just making a routine delivery.
 
At KSBX they have an above ground tank that holds a tanker load plus. Have never been out of gas or jet fuel.
100 LL is a consistent $5.50 per gallon. City Service is delivery truck.
 
$4.60 here. There's several places within 100 miles between 4.30-4.40. Also some over $8. It's not just regional, it's also business model and profit demands.
 
In Fort Smith AR the local $ignature operation is $8.81, most expensive around for quite some distance or you can go across the field and get self serve for $4.59. I had to buy full service from $ignature ass hats because the self serve was out of service for 3 weeks.....no reason given. I couldn't steal enough snacks from them to make up the difference.
 
Getonit said:
In Fort Smith AR the local $ignature operation is $8.81, most expensive around for quite some distance or you can go across the field and get self serve for $4.59. I had to buy full service from $ignature ass hats because the self serve was out of service for 3 weeks.....no reason given. I couldn't steal enough snacks from them to make up the difference.
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I'm flying over that area on Friday. Thanks for warning me not to land there!
 
My home field charges 1.75 per gallon more than neighbor airports 43 and 60 miles away. Once a month I fly over to cheaper airport where they have my A/I, and give my business to a town that appreciates my business. Although it might cost me a little more in regards to time and fuel I use, I get in a couple landings and the plane gets the oil and engine used, versus just sitting inactive. I save $90 dollars per fill up, get some flying in, and exercise the plane. I use about 40 dollars of fuel, but more importantly I’m keeping my skills up, keeping the plane from sitting, and keeping my local airport from raising their price even more by using the competition.
 
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