Saarbrücken Airport Chooses VOLK Diesel Platform Trucks

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	Saarbrücken Airport chooses VOLK Diesel Platform

Trucks

Bad Waldsee, 30.04.2009 – For many years, Saar-
brücken competed with Erfurt for the doubtful honor of having the smallest international commercial airport in Germany. But last year, right on schedule for their 80th anniversary, Saarbrücken Airport experienced their big breakthrough: in addition to an increase in passenger volume of 48%, for the first time in company history they were able to break the magic limit of 500.000 passen-
gers.

Crucial for this upswing was particularly the commitment of the airline Air Berlin, which in 2007 included Saar Air-
port in their network and since then has flown to various national and international destinations from Saarbrück-
en. The second largest German airline after Lufthansa thus positioned itself to become a growth engine for the airport.

This example therefore clearly illustrates how strongly, in many cases, especially the German regional airports re-




	More than 17.000 takeoffs and landings were tallied at Saarbrücken Airport in 2008 – The passenger volume also took a sharp upturn: the growth rate in comparison to the previous year was nearly 50 percent

ly on locational decisions of their key airlines. In Saar-airlines. In Saarbrücken, this is particularly due to the proximity of the only 30 kilometer distant Zweibrücken Airport. For many, it is still painful to recall how the former vacation air-
line Hapagfly, which has merged with the charter airline TUIfly in the meantime, migrated to the palatine competitor some years ago taking around 80.000 passengers with them in the process.




	VOLK Type DFW 2 diesel platform trucks are especially designed for operation at regional and medium-haul airports and are therefore optimally suited for service at Saarbrücken Airport

In order to come out on top in this location competition, Saarbrücken Airport invested an extensive amount for
the expansion and modernization of the infrastructure over the past years. A two-figure amount in the millions flowed into the new construction of a new state-of-the-
art terminal with ultra-modern architectural appeal, the modernization of the existing buildings and the expan-
sion of parking facilities.

But in addition to an attractive ambience, especially punctuality and short layovers are significant arguments in negotiations with airlines. Since these key figures are particularly determined by the reliability, flexibility and speed of ground handling, investments in the ground support equipment sector have also been made.

With the acquisition of a total of seven VOLK Diesel Plat-
form Trucks, Saarbrücken Airport put their money on state-of-the-art equipment “made in Germany”. The type DFW 2 vehicles have a payload of 2.000 kg and a spa-

cious loading platform with a length of 2.500 mm and a width of 1.250 mm. During bad weather, the baggage can
be protected with an retractable tarpaulin that covers the loading platform. The low loading height of only 780 mm proves itself to be a great work simplification for the baggage service employees.

VOLK DFW 2 vehicles are optimally suited for application at Saarbrücken Airport, since they have been designed especially for the requirements of regional and smaller medium-haul airports. VOLK is thereby one of the few suppliers having a dedicated product in their program for this market segment. “Most tractor manufacturers have thinned out their product range in recent years and focu-
sed them primarily on the needs of international hubs”, stated VOLK Managing Director Dr. Matthias Baur. “Smaller regional airports thereby often fall through the grid”.

This is due to the fact that the operation requirements of smaller airports are significantly different from larger hubs. Firstly, only rarely are more than one or two bag-
gage trailers necessary for the handling of smaller types of aircraft. The spacious loading area of a platform truck is often sufficient to transport the baggage of the few passengers. Heavy tractors weighing three or four tons, which are the order of the day at larger airports, are therefore not required for regional air traffic.




	Several million Euros were invested in the newly erected terminal building in recent years – The architecture, which is marked by its abundant use of glass and steel, is dominated by a striking roof construction remini- scent of a bird hovering in flight over the hall

Secondly, the baggage handling areas of regional airports are typically characterized by open construction. While at major airports these are usually located in basement areas with poor air circulation underneath the terminal building due to space restrictions, the airside baggage carousels at smaller airportsare often only protected from wind and weather with little more than a sloped roof. As a result, complex and therefore expensive hybrid technology is as unnecessary here as electrically powered vehicles with their operatively complex battery management and limited range. Combustion engine-driven vehicles are still best suited for this particular task.


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