KLM Secures Enough De-icing Fluid to Keep Servicing Aircraft Departing From Schiphol

KLM announced on Wednesday that it was able to secure enough fluid to continue de-icing aircraft set to depart Schiphol Airport. The Dutch airline is responsible for handling most de-icing services at the airport but said a day earlier it was in danger of running out of its stock. This morning, over 700 flights have already been cancelled due to snow.

“The first supply of de-icing fluid has now arrived. We are continuing to replenish the stock to ensure the safe departure of our flights; today, more than 100,000 liters of de-icing fluid are in transit to Schiphol,” KLM wrote in an update on Wednesday.

A mixture of warm water and glycol is used to blast snow and ice off the aircraft, ensuring that flaps and rudders can continue to move and reducing the chance of ice building up during a flight. The process is necessary for the safe departure of aircraft, an airport spokesperson told NL Times on Tuesday.

Schiphol Airport has four de-icing stations and 25 platforms to handle winter weather. The time required for aircraft to taxi to these stations, the process itself, and the removal of snow from the airfield have created a continuous bottleneck that delays departures. This has forced air traffic controllers to also limit arriving flights to prevent the airport from becoming a parking lot.

More than 3,000 flights to and from Schiphol Airport have been cancelled since strong winds started on Friday, followed by several consecutive days of snowfall and freezing conditions. Around 70 percent of flight movements, about 800 in total, were cancelled on Wednesday.

To keep operations running even at a minimum, KLM provided transportation services to ensure it could obtain de-icing fluid from its suppliers in Germany. “Until the supplier can deliver everything again, we are providing maximum logistical support to guarantee our deliveries,” the airline said on Wednesday.