The first Euro 6-compliant Mercedes-Benz Econic NGT (Natural Gas Technology) has been delivered to Vienna International Airport. The natural-gas-powered truck will operate as a catering truck equipped with a lifting mechanism manufactured by Doll. Econic’s low cab enables a very low delivery height from catering vehicle to plane, which means that all the more widespread types of aircraft, from the Boeing 737 to the Airbus A 380, can be served. This is because a part of the vehicle superstructure is located above the cab, so that the cab’s height is decisive when it comes to delivering to smaller aircraft.
With the new Econic NGT, Vienna Airport is also setting new standards of environmental compatibility – the CO2 emissions of the gas-fuelled engine are around 20 percent lower than those of a diesel engine. When powered by biogas the Econic is actually CO2 neutral.
Apart from the environmental friendliness of the Mercedes-Benz Econic NGT, its users value the low-entry design which makes for ease of access and exceptional visibility enabled by its low, large-area panoramic windscreen. Visibility is further enhanced by the cameras that provide a 360 degree all-round view.
The Mercedes-Benz Econic is equipped with an Allison automatic transmission as standard. This allows the driver to fully concentrate on driving and traffic, benefiting safety on the airport apron.
Apart from the Econic NGT, the Vienna airport authorities also opted for five Unimog U 530 trucks whose permissible gross vehicle weight of 16.5 tons and 220 kW (299 hp) engines make them the most powerful variants of the so-called Unimog implement carrier model series. One of the five machines features a road sweeper attachment manufactured by Trilety and also a permanent magnet to remove metal parts from the airfield. The other four Unimog U 530s are intended for winter services and are thus equipped with snow blower-cutters made by Kahlbacher.These implements are used, for instance, to remove the snow walls after the clearing squad has cleaned the runways of snow. Driven by the Unimog’s front power take-off, the blower-cutters load the snow onto trucks, which in turn remove it from the airfield.
In 2015 the airport of Vienna already commissioned two Unimog U 427 with salt/grit spreaders (made by Aebi-Schmidt) and Kahlbacher snow ploughs, in order to secure safe winter operation on the airport apron, taxi- and runways.
