Dublin Airport has taken delivery of 27 new KL-V wedge snow ploughs from Aebi Schmidt to help prepare the airport for the rigours of this winter following its experience last winter when the infamous ‘Beast from the East’ produced some of the worst weather conditions in living memory.
To keep the airport fully operational 24/7 365 days a year, Dublin Airport operates an extensive winter maintenance fleet that includes six jet sweepers, four de-icers, two glycol recovery vehicles, two snow blowers and a number of snow ploughs including five KL-Vs, all provided by Schmidt, part of the Aebi Schmidt Group and its main supplier.
The combination was sufficient to keep Dublin, one of Europe’s fastest growing airports with over 30 million passengers last year, open and fully operational throughout the winter.
The KL-V snow plough was one of the stars of the show during the severe conditions that Dublin Airport faced when Storm Emma hit in March.
During a review of operational needs for this coming winter by the airport’s winter maintenance and procurement team, the decision was taken to strengthen its presence on the winter fleet.
The KL-V wedge snow plough can be attached to a wide array of multifunctional vehicles, Unimogs, tractors, fork-lifts and trucks, and at Dublin Airport it has been fitted to 27 New Holland tractors, part of a hired fleet brought in to cope with seasonal demand.
Dublin Airport has specified the KL-V 32, which as the largest of the KL-V range has a clearing width from 2300mm to 3440mm and is ideal for clearing snow quickly and efficiently.
The plough consists of two blade wings which can be used as a wedge, V-form or one-sided snow plough, making them perfect for tackling a variety of snow clearing tasks. They are constructed to achieve optimal snow ejection in different levels of snow and can easily handle difficult areas such as cul-de-sacs, runways, aprons and stands.
They also offer silent operation as a shock absorber mounted between the cutting edge, the blade and the swing device cuts down on noise and ensures the smooth running of the plough. At the same time, an automatic deviation system guarantees safe driving over obstacles without any damage to the plough itself.
Odhran McCann, Airfield Delivery Manager at Dublin Airport, explained the thinking behind the new snow plough order. “Last winter we managed to remain open and fully operational at all times. But we were at full stretch at times and we felt that we needed to reinforce our winter fleet in anticipation of a similar snow event this winter.
“The Schmidt KL-V snowploughs are ideal for the job and we’ve now added 27 to the winter fleet to make sure we’ve got all bases covered for this coming winter. We have a lot of confidence in Schmidt equipment and recently added Schmidt’s Street King 660 and the Swingo compact sweeper to both our air and landside operations, to keep levels of FOD under control and the airport clean and tidy,” he added.
Mike Moore, Key Account Manager Airport of Aebi Schmidt UK, commented: “Dublin Airport has been a Schmidt customer for more than a dozen years and we are delighted they have chosen the KL-V snow ploughs to help tackle whatever this winter throws at them. We are completely confident in their ability to do the job and feel they will make a major contribution in strengthening the Dublin winter fleet still further.”