Chopin Airport Fire Service has put into service two new ARFF Panther vehicles to improve even further the safety of passengers and aircraft at the Warsaw airport.
The new aircraft rescue and fire fighting vehicles, manufactured by Austrian company Rosenbauer International, are among the most technologically advanced vehicles of this type available on the market. They are 12 m long and weigh 52 tons each when fully loaded. Powered by two 634 hp engines (all wheel drive), the vehicles can accelerate from 0 to 80 kph in 14 sec. With the top speed of 147 kph, they can reach any place within the airport in less than 2 min 40 sec.
Each vehicle has a 12,600 l water tank and a separate liquid foam agent concentrate tank with a capacity of 1,500 l; both can be emptied in a little over a minute (10,000 lpm at 11 bars).
New Panthers will replace two older Barrakuda vehicles from 1996 and 1997. "This will enable us to ensure even higher safety standards at Chopin Airport. Our old vehicles needed frequent repairs and weren't always operational. Now the problem is gone,Ħħ said Jan Jagnyziak, chief of the Airport Fire Service.
As part of the project entitled "Purchase of operational equipment for the Warsaw Chopin Airport Fire Service", apart from the new vehicles, the airport fire fighters also received special equipment for removing disabled aircraft, which allows for rapid and safe removal of damaged planes from the runway or taxiway to restore normal operations.
The new equipment cost a total of 10.6 million zlotys net, with 8.5 million zlotys coming from the EU's Regional Development Fund under the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment.
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