One of the world’s newest most advanced airports, Istanbul Grand Airport (IGA), has just taken receipt of two of the world’s most advanced runway surface cleaners, the Osprey LA2200.
With its first commercial flight on 31 October 2018, Istanbul Grand Airport will shortly replace Atatürk Airport and become the region’s primary air hub, with an initial capacity of 90 million passengers, ramping up to potentially 200 million passengers when completed.
To keep the two runways, eight taxiways and 4 million m2 of apron safe and clear of the rubber deposits created by landing aircraft, the airport has purchased the Osprey LA2200 water jet cleaning vehicles from UK-based Jetting Systems. The vehicle uses ultra high pressure water jets to remove paint and rubber without damaging the runway surface or the need to use harmful detergents.
In December, the team from Turkey visited Jetting Systems at their facilities near Salisbury, Wiltshire to examine their new Osprey and to witness the acceptance tests at Oxford Airport. The machine is now in Istanbul for final commissioning and staff training.
Feridun Coskun of UMTAŞ Uluslararası Makina Ticaret AŞ, Jetting System’s partner in Istanbul said, “Having already supplied five Osprey machines into the Turkish Military and Civil Aviation sector we are establisged as the premier supplier of runway rubber reoval equipment in Turkey. We are delighted to be involved in this exciting new chapter in the Turkish aviation history.
