Not sure of the total number of de-icing rigs available at Luton but I spotted just 3 excluding the FBO’s own equipment. 2 were on the south stands where the aircraft came to the de-icer plus I saw 1 rig floating around the aprons but as Luton is an airport with many aprons I might have missed another one or two.
Not only was there an issue with the length of time it was taking to de-ice each aircraft but there was also an issue with ground crews disappearing just at the wrong time as they seemed thin on the ground to do push backs.
I raised the issue of de-icing years ago with airport management when I could see what was going to happen before the winter frosts came and again after my prediction came true. At that time, and I am talking about maybe 20 years ago when de-icing was done by Reed Aviation, I was told it has nothing to do with the airport so they were not interested. It might be different now due to stand blocking.
Last edited by LTNman; 28th Dec 2017 at 05:56.