Originally Posted by
spannersatcx
IMHO the blame lay with the airport, the airlines asked for a remote deicing point nearer to the runway, after last years fiasco when snow fell, because the hold over times are not sufficient to do the de-snowing on the gate and a 10 to 15 minute taxi time, the answer from the airport - NO CAN NOT!
I know 1 747 was desnowed and by the time it was completed it had to be done again as the hold over time was up! 6000L!!!!!
The problem at the moment is that there is nowhere to locate such a facility where there is sufficient pavement around the aircraft footprint and where it won't impede the flow of traffic to runways. Believe me it has been explored in some detail. Remember that, unlike LGW and STN, MAN has three terminals and three different departure runways - 23R, 23L, and 05L, all some distance apart and without dual taxiways near the holding points, so you would need multiple facilities at considerable cost. How often do we have a serious problem with de-icing delays? There are other ways to resolve the recent event. The taxiway developments introduced by MAN-TP may offer some scope for a centralised de-icing station but we'll have to wait a little while for that.