By Charlotte Van Campenhout
AMSTERDAM, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Dutch airline KLM said on Tuesday that it was running out of fluid to remove ice from aircraft at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport where cold weather has caused thousands of flight cancellations over the past five days.
KLM said its 25 de-icing trucks have been in continuous use in Amsterdam, its main hub, consuming around 85,000 litres per day of the mixture of heated water and glycol it uses to clear departing aircraft of snow and ice before take off.
“Since Friday KLM has been de-icing aircraft at Schiphol around the clock using de-icing fluid delivered daily,” the Dutch arm of airline group Air France-KLM said.
“Due to a combination of extreme weather conditions and delays in supply from the provider, stock levels are running low. This challenge is currently widespread across Europe,” it added.
KLM said employees had been sent to its supplier in Germany to pick up more de-icing fluid, and it could not give a specific timeframe for when it might run out if stocks are not replenished.
“We are doing everything we can to prevent it,” KLM spokesperson Anoesjka Aspeslagh said.
Schiphol airport, meanwhile, said it still had ample supplies of a different type of de-icing fluid it uses to remove ice and snow from runways.
KLM cancelled at least 300 flights on Tuesday to and from Amsterdam, where it is the largest operator.
Winter conditions are expected to continue in the coming days in the Netherlands, with heavy snowfall and strong winds predicted for Wednesday morning.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Writing by Bart Meijer; Editing by Joe Bavier)
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