LEOS, Lufthansa’s ground handling specialist, has added the second Phoenix E all-electric aircraft tractor from the German manufacturer Goldhofer to their fleet of tow tractors. The battery-powered vehicles are currently in operation at Frankfurt Airport.
On Tuesday (April 4, 2023), Lufthansa announced that their ground handling specialist, LEOS, has added the second all-electric Phoenix E tractor from the German manufacturer Goldhofer. The two purely battery-electric vehicles are in operation at Frankfurt Airport and can move an aircraft with a MTOW of up to 350 tons over short and long distances between parking areas, maintenance hangars and departure positions. Lufthansa LEOS' newest Phoenix E has been painted in retro colors, and its 80s-style yellow catches the eye from afar.
Goldhofer’s Phoenix E tractor has a battery capacity of 165 kilowatt hours and a power output of 240 kilowatts, allowing it to travel at up to 25 km per hour with zero emissions and no noise. The two workhorse tractors transport aircraft across the apron in Frankfurt for an average over 10 hours daily. The daily energy requirement for the jobs is sometimes twice as high as the battery capacity, so the lithium-ion battery system allows for rapid recharging, which is done by means of dedicated charging infrastructure. Naturally, the e-tow tractors are recharged with ‘green electricity.’
Source: Lufthansa