Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has expanded its snow clearance fleet with six new de-icing spray vehicles. The purchase of these six vehicles marks the phased replacement of the airport’s entire fleet of de-icing spray vehicles.

The vehicles are made by Dammann, in Germany. One of the key features of the new vehicles is the use of DGPS software, which allows them to accurately detect areas that have already been sprayed. As soon as the operator drives across a section that has already been sprayed, the nozzles will be switched off automatically. They start spraying again as soon as the vehicle exits the sprayed area. In addition, during night-time spraying operations every nozzle is illuminated individually with an LED light.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol employs professional snow squads that minimize the effects of snow and ice on air traffic. The airport has over one hundred special snow clearance vehicles at its disposal, according to Schiphol. The fleet includes snow ploughs, snow blowers, and spraying vehicles for the runways and taxiways and shovels, snow blowers, and spraying vehicles for the aircraft stands. There are also cranes for loading the snow onto trucks, as well as small and large snow ploughs and gritting vehicles for public roads, car parks, and bicycle paths. A total of 450 employees work day and night to keep the airport free of snow and ice.