CAAP Airports To Receive Brand New Emergency Response Vehicles

The Civil Aviation Authority has unanimously approved the purchase of 41 brand new industrial type airport rescue fire fighting vehicles in an attempt to boost the fire-fighting capabilities of the country's major commercial airports.

Image Source: Oshkosh Corporation

The Philippine government is in the process of upgrading fire trucks and other communication equipment at airports operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in order to conform with global aviation standards. The new fire trucks to be supplied by Oshkosh Corporation are known as Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicles. Each new vehicle complies with international third party certification indicating that it meets and exceeds the standards set by the National Fire Protection Association, Federal Aviation Administration, and International Civil Aviation Organization for aircraft rescue and fire fighting.

Of the eighty-one airports operated by the Civil Aviation Authority, approximately forty-one presently handle commercial flights. At present, the CAAP fire fighting fleet is composed of ninety-seven fire trucks. However, the acquisition date of some trucks dates back as far as 1968 with seventeen units decommissioned due to a limited supply of spare parts.  The remaining eighty units that are functional in the fleet each have an average acquisition age of 20 years. It was not until 2013 that three new vehicles were purchased.

According to William Hotchkiss, Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority, deployment of the new vehicles is part of an upgrading of the Emergency Services Unit of CAAP at all major airports in the country in order to comply with international standards for aircraft rescue and fire fighting as set by the European Union, International Civil Aviation Organization, and the Federal Aviation Administration.

A tender was issued for the acquisition of forty-one new vehicles. Four units are required to hold a capacity of 12,000 litres of water while 37 units are required to carry a 6,000 litre capacity. The contract awarded to Oshkosh Corporation is valued at P1.316 billion for all 41 Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicles. Hotchkiss says that with the delivery of the new equipment, CAAP will be at par with other airports in the region.