Fuel dumping

You may also have heard stories about aircraft dumping fuel on the approach to an airport. Is there any truth in these reports? Owing to their special design and the large fuel tanks, long-distance aircraft are unable to land safely with full tanks. Because of the lightweight construction of landing gear and brakes, the maximum touch-down weight is considerably lower than the take-off weight. If technical problems occur immediately after take-off, it may become necessary to reduce the weight by dumping fuel before landing again. The crew must obtain a permission for this process from the relevant air traffic control office.

So fuel dumping is:

• only practised in emergencies
• only possible for long-distance aircraft, which have the necessary fittings
• performed only once per 30,000 take-offs in Germany
• has never occurred in the Dresden region in recent years

The aircraft must maintain a minimum altitude of 1,500 m above ground for fuel dumping, so that the dumped fuel vaporises under normal weather conditions. It is thus very unlikely that fuel particles can be detected on the ground. This assumption has been verified by appropriate measurements. The probability of fuel dumping at Dresden Airport is extremely low, because no long-distance aircraft are operated in the scheduled traffic. Veils of haze which can occasionally be observed behind planes as they land are caused by condensing humidity in the air under certain weather conditions.

Fuel dumping is not an issue for Dresden Airport!

Our representative responsible for environmental issues will be happy to provide you with further information.