Aberdeen Airport braced for whatever winter holds

2012-08-02 — /travelprnews.com/ — This morning, members of the media were joined by airport management as they were shown exactly what £1.3 million worth of investment looks like.

The money has been spent in recent months dramatically upgrading the fleet of vehicles which serves the whole airport campus. It includes everything from an enormous state-of-the-art £700,000 fire engine, which starred in the Transformers movie, to a small two person electric car. They were on show this morning along-side some of the powerful new snow-fleet that will be used during the winter months to keep the airport running.

The investment in the snow fleet particularly demonstrates winter readiness, and a commitment to ensuring the airport stays operational in times of dramatic weather.

Carol Benzie is the airport Operations Director. She said: “Our fleet really is the life-blood of the airport. Without investment like this our fire service couldn’t respond to incidents, our security and operational teams couldn’t carry out essential patrols and our snow-clearing teams couldn’t keep the airport operational in bad weather. Seeing the range of vehicles on show demonstrates how committed we are to keeping this airport properly equipped to deal with every eventuality.

“Winter can be notoriously hard on airports, but historically Aberdeen has fared well in the worst of conditions. By upgrading our snow fleet we can be sure that we will continue to perform at the highest standards, when the elements are against us.”

“It is also exciting to have an electric car on trial. Due to the geography of the airport campus many of our teams travel some distances to attend meetings or respond to requests. Making sure we able to do this in an environmentally friendly way is important.”

The fire appliance has been designed and built by Rosenbauer, and they are represented in the UK by Angloco. Alistair Brown is the Angloco Sales Director. He said: “Aberdeen Airport has become one of the growing list of UK and international airports to utilise the Rosenbauer Panther. This model incorporates all the standard features that have helped make it so popular, however the Aberdeen model also has a host of upgrades and innovations. It includes electronic foam proportioning for greater accuracy, an ultra-short wheel-base, whilst still carrying a massive 11,000 litres of water, 1,400 litres of foam and 250Kg of chemical powder fire-fighting media.”

The investment doesn’t stop there. Further deliveries of snow equipment and another fire appliance are due in 2013, ensuring Aberdeen Airport remains ready for nearly all eventualities.

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