Airport
Christmas definitely won't be cancelled.
A Unimog is responsible for ensuring that every child – big or small – gets their Christmas present in time. More specifically, a U 427 in Ginster Yellow. Let us begin at the beginning:
A logistical challenge.
A Unimog U 427 is equipped for winter service at the world's largest DHL hub.
Leipzig Airport is DHL’s European hub. So if Aunt Theresa from Madrid sends her nephew George a Christmas present with DHL Express to London, the package first lands in Leipzig. Like millions of other cargo items, it is transshipped here and transported to London by another DHL aircraft. This all happens at night when Theresa and George are asleep dreaming about Christmas.
“In summer we load our 3,000-litre Reinix tank onto the Unimog’s platform. That way we can also carry out watering work.”
Hero in the snow chaos.
To ensure that the various DHL cargo aircraft (Airbus and Boeing) are in top condition, the team of European Air Transport Leipzig GmbH (EAT) takes care of their maintenance and repair. The company is also an airline and operates over 30 of its own cargo aircraft.
And now the Unimog comes into play. "The last two winters were very snowy at our airport in Schkeuditz," says Olaf Andreas, Manager Ground Support. "There was suddenly so much snow that the airport operator's clearing vehicles could not clear the areas in front of our hangars. They were simply overloaded. Our gates were iced up and the machines suffered unnecessary downtimes because we could neither move them out of the hall nor move others in."
Diverse by nature.
That gave rise to the idea of acquiring a powerful and highly adaptable vehicle that could reliably carry out winter service and also tow heavy loads, such as their own 22-ton fuel trailer. Ideally, this vehicle should also be suitable for internal logistics.
A year later the brand-new U 427 stood in front of the hall on road tyres and with 272 hp – including a mounting plate for a Gmeiner wedge-vario snowplough. They also had a Dücker sweeping brush (FKM 240) for winter and summer use with a working width of 2.40 m. Incidentally, a spreader is strictly prohibited at the airport: the salt would corrode the aircraft's aluminium.
Employed year-round.
“In summer we put our 3,000-liter Reinix tank on the Unimog’s flatbed. That also allows us to carry out watering tasks,” explains Olaf Andreas. A hydrostatic drive was fitted to the Unimog so that work with the attachments can be carried out optimally. And just as the Ground Support staff are delighted with their new Unimog, George can certainly look forward to his Christmas present from Aunt Theresa in Spain on Christmas Eve. Because at the DHL hub in Leipzig no aircraft will be held up for long by snow and ice.
Project implemented with Unimog general agency: Henne Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH
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