Press: Winter Service at Munich Airport is ready to go

Safe flight operations in icy and snowy conditions

October 31, 2025

Over 180 vehicles to combat winter conditions
HVO 100 fuel used for the first time
Cucumber water replaces road salt on public roads

To ensure safe operations around the clock even in winter weather conditions, Munich Airport has a winter service in place from the beginning of November to mid-April. The winter service team is deployed at the airport in icy and snowy conditions. It comprises 184 vehicles, 152 of which are used to clear and de-ice the airfield, and 32 for roads, paths, and parking areas in the public area. Seventy-one of the vehicles are tractors from the airport region. A total of over 600 women and men are employed in winter services, around 520 of whom come from agriculture and transport companies in the region. This means that around 200 personnel per shift ensure that the areas within the airport fence are as free of snow and ice as possible.

Winter service is a joint project

The winter service is alerted by Munich Airport's traffic management, which monitors the condition of the operational areas around the clock. In addition to the latest forecasts from the German Weather Service, the traffic management team uses a black ice early warning system, which receives constantly updated data from a total of 18 measuring stations distributed across the airport. In addition, special vehicles are used to continuously check the braking values on the runways.

In order to ensure that airport operations run as smoothly and, above all, as safely as possible, large areas must be cleared when it snows: the two runways, aprons, and taxiways alone cover around 5.6 million square meters, equivalent to more than 780 soccer fields. Clearing a runway at Munich Airport that is over 4,000 meters long and approximately 60 meters wide takes around 30 minutes. The winter service therefore has numerous special vehicles at its disposal, including 22 snow blowers, 5 loading snow blowers, and a snow groomer. In addition to the airport's own equipment, the tractors of supporting farmers are equipped with snow plows.

For environmental reasons, mechanical cleaning of traffic areas is generally given priority. Only when there is a risk of icing on the operational areas is it necessary to use de-icing agents. Gutters running along both sides of the runways collect the thawing liquid and direct it to the meltwater retention basin. From here, the meltwater is transferred in a controlled manner to the sewage treatment plant in Eitting. Quartz sand is spread on some of the areas instead of de-icing fluid.

The cleared snow is transported to six snow dumps. Each season, up to 2.2 million cubic meters of snow can accumulate here. An underground collection basin ensures that the resulting meltwater does not enter the groundwater.

In terms of sustainability, however, the first vehicles in the airport fleet will be fueled with HV0 100 fuel this winter season. This is a renewable diesel fuel made from hydrogenated vegetable oils (hydrotreated vegetable oil) and fats, which are obtained from waste products such as used fats, among other things. Unlike conventional diesel, it can be used in many vehicles without conversion and results in lower emissions. HVO 100 is therefore a good transitional solution until the entire fleet has been converted to e-mobility.

For several years now, the airport has also been using what is known as "cucumber water" – salt water left over from the fermentation process used to preserve cucumbers. It is used on the roads and paths in the public areas of the airport and has the advantage that the waste product can be reused and no additional salt needs to be purchased.

But it is not only the airport's traffic areas that need to be kept in a safe operating condition during the cold season: aircraft must also be cleared of snow and ice before takeoff. This is done by the so-called "polar bears" of the Gesellschaft für Enteisen und Flugzeugschleppen am Flughafen München mbH (EFM), a joint subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Flughafen München GmbH. "Polar bears" are special vehicles that spray de-icing fluid onto aircraft immediately before takeoff. The used de-icing fluid is collected and largely recycled.

Despite all the preparation, technical equipment, and personnel deployed, extreme ice and snow conditions pose a major challenge for the airport, airlines, and service providers involved. De-icing aircraft, clearing numerous areas, and all other winter service measures can cause delays in the tightly scheduled aircraft handling process. The top priority is and remains safe flight operations.

Winter service is a joint project

To ensure that airport operations run as smoothly and, above all, as safely as possible, large areas must be cleared when it snows: the two runways, aprons, and taxiways alone cover around 5.6 million square meters, equivalent to more than 780 soccer fields. Clearing a runway at Munich Airport that is over 4,000 meters long and approximately 60 meters wide takes around 30 minutes. The winter service therefore has numerous special vehicles at its disposal, including 22 snow blowers, 5 loading snow blowers, and a snow groomer. In addition to the airport's own equipment, the tractors of supporting farmers are equipped with snowplows.

For environmental reasons, mechanical cleaning of traffic areas is generally given priority. Only when there is a risk of icing on the operational areas is it necessary to use de-icing agents. Gutters running along both sides of the runways collect the thawing liquid and direct it to the meltwater retention basin. From here, the meltwater is transferred in a controlled manner to the sewage treatment plant in Eitting, Quartz sand is spread on some of the areas instead of de-icing fluid.

In terms of sustainability, however, the first vehicles in the airport fleet will be fueled with HV0 100 fuel this winter season. This is a renewable diesel fuel made from hydrogenated vegetable oils (hydrotreated vegetable oil) and fats, which are obtained from waste products such as used fats, among other things. Unlike conventional diesel, it can be used in many vehicles without conversion and results in lower emissions. HVO 100 is therefore a good interim solution until the entire fleet has been converted to e-mobility.

But it is not only the airport's traffic areas that need to be kept in a safe operating condition during the cold season: aircraft must also be cleared of snow and ice before takeoff. This is done by the so-called "polar bears" of EFM - the Company for De-icing and Aircraft Towing at Munich Airport - a joint subsidiary of Lufthansa and Munich Airport. "Polar bears" are special vehicles that spray de-icing fluid onto aircraft immediately before takeoff. The used de-icing fluid is collected and largely recycled.