DUBLIN AIRPORT"S NEW FUEL FARM OPENS FOR BUSINESS

Dublin Airport’s new Ђ40 million aviation fuel farm has opened bringing significant efficiencies to the aircraft refuelling operation.

The new fuel farm has six times the capacity of the original facility with three new aviation fuel tanks capable of storing 15 million litres of fuel in total - the equivalent of the capacity of six Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The project also included connecting the fuel farm to a fuel hydrant system to service aircraft parked on Pier 4, which is adjacent to Terminal 2. 

The fuel hydrant system, which was installed as part of the T2 project and was designed to be connected to the fuel farm subsequently, enables the fuel to be delivered directly into the aircraft via a hydrant dispenser that connects to a pit in the ground.

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Previously at least two fuel trucks with up to 45,000 litres in capacity were required to fuel a long-haul flight. 

According to the airport, long-haul flights can now be refuelled in less than half the time it took under the old system and the number of fuel vehicles on the apron area has reduced by 50%.

The hydrant fuel system will be extended to other piers on a phased basis.

“The extra fuel storage capacity that this development brings is hugely welcome,” says Dublin Airport's managing director, Vincent Harrison. 

Spanish company CLH Group, which specialises in oil transportation and storage, was awarded the contract to design, finance, build, operate and transfer (DFBOT) under a concession arrangement for 20 years.

More than six million passengers have travelled through Dublin Airport in the first quarter of this year, representing a 4% increase, or an extra 248,500 passengers, compared to the same period last year.