Montreal-Trudeau Airport, Aero Mag Inaugurates Deicing Fluid Recovery And Reuse Facility

MONTRÉAL, CANADA - Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) and Aéro Mag today inaugurated a state-of-the-art ethylene glycol recovery, recertification and reuse facility at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport's de-icing centre that will significantly reduce the airport's environmental record while reducing de-icing charges for airlines.

Representing a $10 million investment, the facility uses a sophisticated process to concentrate ethylene glycol employed in aircraft deicing operations and restore it to at least 99.5 percent purity for reuse. This process is considered a world first. ADM contributed $7.1 million to the construction of the facility while Aéro Mag invested $2.9 million.

At the new ethylene glycol recycling facility, collected deicing fluid is brought to a 50-50 concentration in a first phase, and then to a purity of 99.5 percent through the use of high-technology distillation tower supplied by Vilokan Sweden AB. Once it has been recertified for quality assurance, the glycol can then be used again for deicing aircraft. All water generated by the process is filtered and reused.

"This facility makes us a world-leader in the recycling of ethylene glycol and is an important step in our efforts to promote sustainable development in all aspects of our operations," said Philippe Rainville, Vice-President, Planning, Engineering and Construction, ADM. "It will enhance efficiencies at our de-icing operations while reducing the use of potable water by 2 million litres a year. It will also help to lower ethylene glycol costs by up to 30 percent for our airline customers during the winter months."

Deicing airplanes is a vital procedure for airline safety in the winter and a critical component of Montréal-Trudeau's operations. It involves spraying ethylene glycol diluted with water at a concentration based on current weather conditions - to remove frost, ice or snow from aircraft surfaces prior to takeoff. "Today, we can proudly say that by using the latest available technologies, we can recover virtually all of this fluid, purify it and reuse it, with tremendous environmental and operational benefits," said Mario Lépine, President of Aéro Mag.

Montréal-Trudeau airport opened its aircraft deicing facility in 1997 in a joint venture with Aéro Mag, now a Canadian leader in the conception, management and operation of deicing facilities at airports in North America and the United Kingdom. Expanded in 2012, it features eight bays supported by 24 deicing trucks capable of handling up to 48 aircraft an hour - or an average of about 9,400 aircraft a year.

About Aéro Mag

Aéro Mag is a Montréal-based company established in 1997 specialized in the planning, design, conception, management, operation and maintenance of centralized deicing facilities. It operates at eight international airports in Canada (Montréal-Trudeau, Montréal-Mirabel, Calgary, Ottawa, St-John's NL, Vancouver, Toronto Island and Edmonton), at Cleveland-Hopkins, Newark Liberty and Denver airports in the United States, and at Heathrow airport in the United Kingdom.

About Aéroports de Montréal

Aéroports de Montréal is a not-for-profit local airport authority that has been responsible for the management, operation and development of Montréal-Trudeau and Montréal-Mirabel international airports since 1992. The Corporation employs about 650 people at both airport sites.

Fact sheet 'Official Opening of the Glycol Recycling Centre' available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/fsheet_E.pdf