What are WinterOps? How do they work? Who clears the snow from the runways?
Winter, snow and ice are not always the airport’s best friends. Heavy snowfall, freezing rain and cold can cause problems in no time for Brussels Airport. To prevent all this, the WinterOps started on 15 November and will continue until 31 March.
Winter conditions: who, what, where, when?
The various ‘winter condition types’ are determined by several factors. In airport terms we talk of ‘heavy, moderate, light or no winter conditions’. The meteo and the type of precipitation (wet and heavy snow, powder snow, dry snow, frost, ice, etc.) also determine the type of conditions. The weather can change quickly, which is why Brussels Airport has extended the HELI (a real-time platform that allows us to follow the status of the airport at all times) with detailed weather information that is updated every hour.
Brussels Airport Company (BAC) provides the equipment so that an aircraft can land on and take off from a runway that is free of snow and/or ice. More than 200 internal and external employees are divided into four shifts to ensure that everything runs smoothly. They are all trained in the BAC techniques and agreements so that everything is done in the same way. They form, as it were, cogs in a network of gears that cleverly mesh together.
The WinterOps fleet and its operation
The snow shift on duty rotates in convoys to keep the runways free of snow and ice. Depending on the techniques used and the weather conditions, a runway can be cleared in a record time of 30 minutes, but in a worse case scenario it can take more than an hour. Clearing the area where the runways cross takes on average 25 minutes and clearing exits of snow can also take 25 to 30 minutes.
The winter fleet consists of 35 machines purchased by BAC, but external partners can lend out additional machines if necessary. The BAC fleet consists of nine heavy snow ploughs that push the snow aside, three snow blowers, seven spraying machines, four machines to clear ‘high-speed exits’ (exits on the runway leading to a taxiway), and a number of smaller machines to keep the stands free of snow.
De-icing process
The handlers of Brussels Airport are responsible for de-icing the aircraft and own their own equipment. But to increase the capacity, Brussels Airport puts 11 machines at their disposal for de-icing aircrafts. These appliances are mainly centralised at three different remote de-icing platforms - W (Whisky), S (new South) or M (Mike). Since 2019, all these platforms are connected to the water treatment plant so that the water used in de-icing is drained away and broken down in the biological water purification. This process also took place in previous years, but the drainage of the de-icing water to the water treatment plant has been changed. The other de-icing vehicles drive around to treat the other aircraft on their stands.
Preparation and coordination from the Airport Operations Center
Good coordination and communication between all the various parties is of considerable importance for winter operations. They are therefore coordinated from the Airport Operations Center (APOC). APOC brings all partners together a day in advance, not only in real time, but also when we expect winter conditions.
A winter action plan is drawn up based on the weather forecast and the impact on the airport’s capacity is calculated. This translates into an ‘expected impact on the airport operations’. It allows the airport partners to prepare optimally and helps airlines make the proper decisions about what they will do with their flights. They can then inform their passengers.