Remaining snow and ice free during the winter season is a key component of the winter plan of an airport. And to ensure the winter targets are met, London Luton Airport has invested heavily in winter maintenance equipment, including five Schmidt TJS 560 towed jet sweepers equipped with 6.4m Schmidt Tarron MS Airport snowploughs, and several JCB Fastracs. In addition, the LLA team operates two 10,500-litre 24-metre Schmidt ASP De-Icers, and an Schmidt AS 990 high performance runway sweeper. Meanwhile, a Schmidt Supra 5002 Snow-cutter Blower, with a working speed of up to 40 kmh and capable of moving up to 5,000 tonnes of snow per hour, arrives this autumn and is the missing piece in the winter maintenance jigsaw. The machine has a working width of 3.4m and is used to clear large accumulations of snow which are created by the jet sweepers along the runway and taxiway edges. LLA also operates a Schmidt Street King 660 to sweep the terminal frontage, car parks and roadways to help improve the appearance and image of the airport from a user perspective.
The delivery of the last of the Schmidt TJS 560 jet sweepers and the impending new snowblower are set to complete LLA’s strategic aim of reducing runway snow clearing and de-icing time to a capability of 11mins 30secs for winter 2023/24. “Improved planning and the procurement and deployment of a highly efficient and reliable snow fleet has a significant impact on aircraft de-icing, creating greater certainty in maintaining operations and makes for better overall environmental performance,” said Liam Bolger, Head of Airside at Luton Airport. He has total responsibility for all airside operations at LLA, including runway inspections, stand planning, summer and winter operations and all safety aspects.
Improved control and accuracy
Bolger had sought advice from Aebi Schmidt on the best method for runway clearing. “We quickly discovered that the most effective method based on their experience around the world was to clear from the centre out and not side to side, as we had traditionally been doing. This has helped us bring our times down and we practice religiously to improve our overall performance. We have a relationship with Aebi Schmidt going back almost 20 years and are primarily a Schmidt fleet now after going out to tender and awarding the contract to Schmidt because it offered the best and most suitable equipment to meet our objectives.” Bolger said another major factor in the use of Schmidt de-icing equipment was the increased efficiency and cost reduction plus the reduced use of de-icing material which was very important from an environmental viewpoint. “Through better control and accuracy of volumes dispensed in changing weather conditions, we have been able to make a 40% cost saving on our average de-icing bill. This is important to us not just from a cost reduction perspective but from a safety and environmental point of view,” he said. Although the 2022/23 winter was a mild one with only one major snow incidence at LLA, Bolger and his winter maintenance team now feel that they are ideally equipped to handle whatever the coming British winter has to throw at them.