Originally Posted by
ericlday
On average what is the de-icing time for say a A320 ?
If it's just frost then 10 minutes. Snow is a different matter - how much, wet and slushy or dry powder. Worst case scenario being wet snow then the temperature falls below freezing. Frozen slushy snow takes a lot of shifting. Then there is the problem of holdover times. If it's only frost then the de-ice is good for 5 hours. If it's still snowing then it's only good for 15 minutes, so there is a juggling act to perform. Get de-iced then ATC advise you're no.9 for departure then you've wasted your time and need another de-ice. Big airports that get more snow than Luton have de-icing gantries near the runway to avoid this problem.