Fraport Greece Holds Snow Clearing Exercise at Thessaloniki Airport ‘Makedonia’

Fraport Greece, the operator of the 14 regional airports in Greece, successfully conducted a planned snow clearing exercise at Thessaloniki Airport “Makedonia” in collaboration with all relevant bodies.

The purpose of conducting the snow clearing exercise was to evaluate and potentially improve the operational response level to such a state. Mainly, it aimed to analyze the collaboration and interoperability of the involved entities in addressing a situation of such.

Apart from the Fraport Greece personnel, all bodies correlating to the case participated in the exercise including both the ground handling service provider and the company ECOTECH, as the entity responsible for the wastewater and water treatment of the airport, activating 17 vehicles in total.

The scenario of the exercise concerned the snow clearing of runway 10/28 and taxiway F, runway 16/34 and taxiway A, as well as the airport apron and the apron taxiways. During the exercise, the Snow Control Center was on the alert, led by Thessaloniki Airport “Makedonia” Airport Manager Nikolaos Vitzilaios.

The exercise was carried out at the end of December and for the period of its execution a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) was issued for the suspension of the operation of the two runways.

Following the snow-clearing exercise, Fraport Greece Chief Operations Officer (COO) Panagiotis Spiratos highlighted its critical importance for the safety of airports and flights.

“Fraport Greece, with its commitment to providing a high level of safety for passengers and the key links of air transportation, has planned a comprehensive strategic plan which includes this particular exercise,” Spiratos said.

According to the COO, the plan is implemented on a permanent basis at the 14 regional airports managed and operated by the company. Among other things, the plan includes the renovation of infrastructure, alignment of processes and operations with the highest European and international standards and the training of its personnel, with the goal of maintaining and enhancing the already high level of safety at the 14 regional airports.