The fate of Europe's summer jet fuel market always hinged on whether the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened before peak airline travel season hit in early July. It now appears that a full-blown crisis may have been averted, although traders warn it could still take months for critical Mideast Gulf flows to normalize. While the aviation sector is cautiously optimistic the worst has been avoided, airlines are not out of the woods yet. Most of the Mideast’s export-focused refineries were were forced to slash runs during the 3½ month near-closure of the strait. Market watchers warn it will take weeks to restore throughputs, longer if units have been damaged by Iranian strikes. Some delay is needed to clear the strait of hazards and allow tankers to ballast back to where they're needed. But European traders fear it could be late July or early August before fresh Mideast tankers start arriving in significant numbers. Clean-tanker movements through Hormuz since the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was signed Jun. 17 have mostly carried low-grade naphtha or middle distillates that have been stuck in tanks or at sea for too long to be marketed as on-spec jet fuel. Hormuz jet flows since the conflict started Feb. 28 still amount to just 21,000 barrels per day — down from 400,000 b/d before the conflict, of which three-quarters went to Europe.