The Airport is an important air cargo hub and handles Code E and F freighter aircraft. The airport is also important as a passenger hub for this part of Europe and handles just under 5 million passengers per annum.
The existing fuel farm is old and is in a valley between the passenger and cargo aprons. It must be relocated to allow the cargo apron to expand and the airport to grow.
The chosen site for the new fuel farm is adjacent to the A1 autoroute, some 1km from the existing facility.
eJet was originally awarded the assignment to compile the tender for a concession to Design Finance Build Operate and Transfer (DFBOT) the new fuel facilities. However, over the course of time, the State decided to finance the project itself, and the original project became DBO. It was decided that the Airport required detailed design of the new fuel facilities to be carried out prior to the DBO tender being floated – in this way the technical requirements would be completely clear to tenderers.
Accordingly, eJet was awarded the Detailed Design of the fuel-wetted parts of the New Aviation Fuel Facilities in 2019. eJet had previously also carried out the design of the Cargo Apron hydrant system and had provided on-site construction management services.
New Aviation Fuel Facilities will comprise a new fuel farm with 3 x 5,000m³ tanks, hydrant pumps and filters, road truck receiving and offloading facilities, extension of the CEPS (NATO/OTAN) fuel supply pipeline to the new fuel farm, outgoing hydrant feeder pipelines to connect to the existing and unused hydrant system on the cargo apron, and into-plane fuelling facilities including fueller/bowser loading racks and test rigs.
The design phase is fast-track to enable the new fuel facilities to be operational as soon as possible.