Winter Operations
Statistics
Snow clearing in front of the air traffic control tower
The Dresden International Airport Winter Operations team is operational from 1 November to 31 March 24 hours a day in two shifts, and works closely with the Deutsche Flugsicherung air traffic controllers and the German Meteorological Service.
- Total number of qualified personnel: 140
- Working per shift: 1 officer-in-charge, 1 duty traffic manager, 2 group leaders, 14 drivers
- Area to be cleared: 543,100 m² (the size of 76 football pitches)
- of which: aircraft stands (245,000 m²), runway (171,000 m²), taxiways (90,600 m²) and peripheral road (36,500 m²)
Plough, sweep, blow
- Snow is cleared according to the principle: 'plough, sweep, blow'
- Mechanical clearing methods are preferred for environmental reasons
- Vehicle fleet: at any one time we use up to seven combined plough/blower trucks, one dedicated snow plough, three snowblowers, one gritter/salter and a surface friction tester to calculate braking distances on the runway.
- If surfaces still ice up, they are also gritted with around 50 g/ m² of flame-dried quartz sand
- In extreme conditions the runway can also be de-iced using Clearway 1 (approx. 50% potassium acetate with a vinegary smell)
- Sensors measure crucial runway data: temperatures in and above the concrete, wind speed, precipitation, humidity
- An alarm is triggered if there is a risk of icing
- The early warning system keeps the use of chemicals to a minimum
- Clears the aircraft of ice (de-icing) and prevents new ice from forming (anti-icing)
- Special vehicles spray aircraft wings and fuselage with a fully bio-degradable mixture of glycol and water at a temperature of 60 - 80°C
- The liquid drains into the airport's sewer system together with other surface water
- The decision as to whether or not an aircraft needs to be de-iced is taken by its captain
De-icing an aircraft
Dresden Airport winter operations in action