A fresh surface should make a runway more grippy and therefore safer. But at the start, the aircraft tires suffer first. Now the airport and airlines are worried about safe operations in the summer.
A nasty surprise at Frankfurt Airport: after just a few hours of operation, the freshly renovated north-west runway had to be closed again.
Shortly after the release on Wednesday, Lufthansa complained that it had noticed massive tire wear on its aircraft after landing. A number of rubbers are no longer operational, so that one will no longer land there for safety reasons. The runway was reopened late Thursday evening.
Anti-slip surface instead of traditional asphalt
The 2,800 meter long concrete runway was first cleaned of rubber abrasion in the past two weeks and given a special anti-slip surface for the first time in Frankfurt. According to the manufacturer “Possehl Spezialbau” from Rhineland-Palatinate, the covering “Fl8Safe” made of epoxy resin and split should have a much better grip and be more durable than conventional asphalt. Even in extreme weather, the surface still appears dry due to the effective drainage and enables the aircraft to land safely with short braking distances.
The area of unavoidable rubber abrasion during landing should also be reduced by around 40 percent with Fl8safe. During the checks after landing, Lufthansa apparently found the opposite. “There is massive tire wear on landing and an accumulation of tires that can no longer be used after landing,” says an internal memo from which the “Aero.de” portal quoted. Possehl initially did not comment on a request.
Machines land again
The airport operator Fraport reacted immediately on Thursday and closed the runway until further notice. After an investigation, Fraport sent rollers onto the “Nordwest” to smooth the surface. “This ultimately simulates landings,” said a company spokesman. The train was released again in the evening, and Lufthansa machines also landed there again, as a Fraport spokesman reported.
Although the surface was applied for the first time in Frankfurt, it has been tried and tested at other airports in Europe, explained Fraport. The runway specifications of the civil aviation organization ICAO were all complied with. The pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit was basically positive about “anti-skid coatings”, which made landings much safer. You can feel the delay very clearly, said the pilot and VC spokesman Matthias Baier.
Merkel once opened runway
The Northwest runway – only opened in 2011 by the then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) – is actually urgently needed for the upcoming summer tourist traffic, which is supposed to return to the pre-Corona level on individual days. The largest German airport still has two more runways and a runway that is only permitted for take-offs. However, this runway “18 West” has to be closed for safety reasons when there is a stronger north wind, so that there is a risk of serious bottlenecks. According to Fraport, operations ran smoothly on Thursday.
During the two-week runway renovation, the upper limit of flight movements in the airport system was capped from 94 to 84 per hour. German air traffic control in Langen continues to expect significant delays if the Northwest runway remains closed. In the past two weeks, there have already been significant delays of up to 30,000 minutes a day at Frankfurt Airport during construction work. Around 120 flights were completely canceled in this period. Fraport has already asked passengers to find out about the status of their flights.
Source: Stern
