Mysterious tire damage – Fraport closes the reopened runway after a few hours
The renovation work on the north-west runway at Frankfurt Airport may have been in vain
Source: dpa/Boris Roessler
After the application of a new type of surface, a runway at Frankfurt Airport had to be closed again just hours after it opened – indefinitely. Pilots had previously observed a strange phenomenon on their machines.
ZThe north-west runway at Frankfurt Airport was completely closed for two weeks for maintenance work. It was put back into operation this Wednesday, “a day earlier than planned,” as the Fraport airport company proudly announced.
At 1:12 p.m., the first Lufthansa plane from Paris touched down on the 2.8-kilometer runway. But the joy about the restart did not last long. After the first landings on the brand new runway, pilots report abnormalities in the tires, the cause of which appears to be a new type of runway surface used for the first time in Frankfurt.
On the afternoon of the reopening, disturbing reports were received by the traffic control center at Frankfurt Airport. Pilots of several aircraft had therefore found unusual signs of wear in the landing gear area.
Only hours after the reopening, the traffic management felt compelled to close the railway to traffic again. The lockdown continues. “There are currently no landings on the Northwest runway,” confirms a Fraport spokesman to WELT. “The colleagues are working flat out to find the cause and find a solution to the problem.”
The affected runway was closed to operations on May 16. In addition to removing rubber abrasion and minor damage to the piste, the run was to be equipped with a new type of anti-slip covering (“anti-skid”), which, among other things, contained large amounts of epoxy resin.
This serves to increase the braking performance of aircraft when landing and to reduce maintenance intervals on the runway. According to the airport, the use of de-icing agents can also be reduced by a quarter in the winter months thanks to the new surface.
“Lufthansa is traditionally in the red in the first quarter”
Lufthansa significantly reduced the loss at the beginning of the year. The airline is optimistic about the summer. Equity expert Volker Schulz believes so too. That’s why.
Source: WELT/Dietmar Deffner
To achieve this, 900 tons of chippings and 164 tons of epoxy resin were applied to the 126,000 square meter area. “The good weather played into our hands,” said Axel Konrad from Fraport Construction Project Management when the aircraft was released for flight operations ahead of schedule. But then the anti-slip covering made a classic false start.
Because it wasn’t long before the first reports of findings on the aircraft that had landed on the Northwest runway were received from Frankfurt Airport’s largest customer. Obviously, the supposed protective cover led to problems.
According to Fraport, there were no tire bursts, but the tires were apparently “affected” on landing, according to the Fraport spokesman. “We have noticed increased tire wear on some aircraft,” specifies one Lufthansa– Spokeswoman for WELT.
“Safety comes first”
The unusual signs of wear and tear were observed during routine checks before the planned onward flight of the machines. After several pilots reported similar problems, the affected runway was closed until further notice after a few hours of operation. “Safety is the top priority,” he said Fraport.
It still seems completely unclear what exactly is the problem that affects the tires so much when landing. Actually, the new surface should also be applied to the other three runways of the largest German airport.
The airport is investing 3.5 million euros in the project. How this will continue is an open question. In the worst case, the airport could feel compelled to immediately mill off the new surface.
“Everything on shares” is the daily stock exchange shot from the WELT business editorial team. Every morning from 5 a.m. with the financial journalists from WELT. For stock market experts and beginners. Subscribe to the podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music and Deezer. Or directly by RSS-Feed.