No airport can operate without a specialized fire service, ready to deal with airport firefighting tasks at all times, if necessary. The primary role of airport firefighters is to perform aircraft firefighting and related life-saving tasks, to provide a standby duty service (which guarantees that firefighters can deploy to any point of the airport within 3 minutes of the alert and start extinguishing the fire) and to provide fire protection for the buildings at the airport; their work is thus essential for the maintenance of air traffic. This service used to be provided at the airport by the firefighters of disaster management, but a change in legislation at the end of December last year meant that it is Budapest Airport’s responsibility to provide firefighter staff from October. The service is now provided by qualified firefighters who have joined the Budapest Airport staff, instead of disaster management.
Budapest Airport has provided an excellent benefits package and all necessary trainings for the 95 firefighters working at its industrial fire service. Among other things, colleagues have participated in special aircraft firefighting exercises, and senior staff are entitled to continuous further trainings. Budapest Airport has thus created a modern, well-functioning organization, which has become an integral part of the company’s supportive workplace community. The unit is working under the direction of commander Gábor Nagy, who has been the airport fire chief for seven years, and decided to continue his work at Budapest Airport from 1 February.
Budapest Airport had supported the airport fire service even before the firefighters joined its staff; the maintenance of the fire bases, the provision of the most modern equipment and fleet of vehicles (including the latest Panther vehicles) had already been the responsibility of the airport operator. As a result, Budapest Airport now has one of the best-equipped airport fire services in Europe, and its firefighters are trained in the theory and practice of aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF).
Budapest Airport’s Fire Service in numbers:
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95 staff members
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6 Rosenbauer Panther type fire trucks
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60 exercises per year, over and above those prescribed by legal provisions
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96 000 liters of fire-extinguishing water
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9900 liters of foaming agent
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1350 kg extinguishing powder
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23 456 hours of training
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782 medical suitability examinations
