A Canadair CL-415 drops water onto a wildfire near the city of Volos, central Greece, on July 27, 2023. Greek fire crews on July 27 scrambled to put out wildfires raging for two weeks around the country that left five dead before strong winds forecast for the day rekindle blazes. / © Sakis MITROLIDIS / AFP
Cargolux is expanding, but not how one would expect.
According to our sources, Findel Airport will soon be home to specialised planes used to combat forest fires. Back in September, Findel’s executive management board made the decision to purchase a dozen “Air Tractor Fire Boss” planes for an estimated 72 million USD. These propeller-motored planes are single-person operated and can land on large water surfaces, for the explicit purpose of collecting water to release over wildfires.
The plan is to participate in tenders across Europe next year. Through this initiative, Cargolux aims to contribute to the fight against climate change - as forest fires release a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Upon request, Cargolux did not provide any further comment regarding their plans.
Acting Minister for Mobility and Transport François Bausch was also unable to provide further details. However, Bausch did state that a part of Cargolux’s strategy is to diversify and that this is an interesting route to pursue if this is the path they have chosen as a company. He believes it is a positive direction to take, especially due to Europe’s pressing need for more resources to combat forest fires.
LuxAirport did not issue any comments on the matter. Luxair no longer plans to participate in the public tender for cargo licences, and has communicated plans to transfer Luxembourg's cargo centre activities to Cargolux subsidiary Luxcargo, provided the latter receives a licence.
Meanwhile, the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (OGBL), the Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (LCGB) and the Neutral Union of Luxembourg (NGL-Snep) demand that a decision be made for the 1,200 cargo centre employees currently worried for their job safety. The trade unions and syndicates want to know who will be filling the managerial role at the cargo centre. The affected employees are protected by a sector-wide collective agreement. However, they demand an employment guarantee and the drawing up of a new collective agreement based on Luxair’s collective agreement and the maintenance of social assets.
