All-season airport operation of Econic and Unimog.

Various Unimog are part of the vehicle fleet of the Vienna International Airport. As multi-functional implement carriers, they are responsible for maintenance and winter services. But an Econic also convinced the airport operator. In the NGT version (Natural Gas Technology), the low entry truck is an especially eco-friendly catering lifting truck.

The Euro VI-compliant Mercedes-Benz Econic NGT operates as a catering truck equipped with a lifting mechanism manufactured by Doll. Econic’s low cab enables a very low delivery height from catering vehicle to plane, which means that all the more widespread types of aircraft, from the Boeing 737 to the Airbus A 380, can be served. This is because a part of the vehicle superstructure is located above the cab, so that the cab’s height is decisive when it comes to delivering to smaller aircraft.

Watch more videos on Unimog and Econic:

Econic in Paris city traffic.
Unimog U 427 with Kahlbacher body.

20 percent less CO₂ emissions due to gas-fuelled engine.

With the Econic NGT, Vienna Airport is also setting standards of environmental compatibility – the CO₂ emissions of the gas-fuelled engine are around 20 percent lower than those of a diesel engine. When powered by biogas the Econic is actually CO₂ neutral.

Clean pays off: Econic proofs cost-effectiveness.

An Econic NGT serves as a catering lifting vehicle for the Airbus A 380 in Vienna.

Best view on the runway.

Apart from the environmental friendliness of the Mercedes-Benz Econic NGT, its users value the low-entry design which makes for ease of access and exceptional visibility enabled by its low, large-area panoramic windscreen. Visibility is further enhanced by the cameras that provide a 360 degree all-round view.

The Mercedes-Benz Econic is equipped with an Allison automatic transmission as standard. This allows the driver to fully concentrate on driving and traffic, benefiting safety on the airport apron.

Unimog U 530 for winter services and airfield cleaning operation.

Apart from the Econic NGT, the Vienna airport authorities also opted for five Unimog U 530 trucks whose permissible gross vehicle weight of 16.5 tons and 220 kW (299 hp) engines make them the most powerful variants of the Unimog implement carrier model series.

One of the five machines features a road sweeper attachment manufactured by Trilety and also a permanent magnet to remove metal parts from the airfield. The other four Unimog U 530 are intended for winter services and are thus equipped with snow blower-cutters made by Kahlbacher. These implements are used, for instance, to remove the snow walls after the clearing squad has cleaned the runways of snow. Driven by the Unimog’s front power take-off, the blower-cutters load the snow onto trucks, which in turn remove it from the airfield.

In addition, the airport of Vienna also uses two Unimog U 427 with salt/grit spreaders made by Aebi-Schmidt and Kahlbacher snow ploughs, in order to secure safe winter operation on the airport apron, taxi- and runways.

The Unimog U 530 is the top model of Mercedes-Benz equipment carriers and meets high standards in terms of productivity, efficiency and environmental friendliness.

Please note:

The Econic NGT is a discontinued model. The end of production has been announced for 31.12.2021, therefore the vehicle can no longer be ordered after 30.10.2021.

All-season airport operation of Econic and Unimog.

20 percent less CO2 emissions due to gas-fuelled engine.

Best view on the runway.

Unimog U 530 for winter services and airfield cleaning operation.

Please note:

All articles on Special Trucks in use at airports

Econic

20 percent less CO₂ emissions due to gas-fuelled engine.