News / Cargolux invests $72m to buy fleet of aerial fire-fighting aircraft

Photo: Air Tractor

Cargolux has declined to comment on media reports in Luxembourg claiming the cargo airline is planning to diversify into aerial fire-fighting, and thus contribute to the fight against climate change.

The backdrop is that the intensity and duration of wildfires in Europe, especially in the south, continues to grow, triggering an urgent need for more aerial water tanker capacity.

Online news service RTL Today said that, “according to its sources”, Cargolux was investing $72m to buy 12 Air Tractor Fire Boss aircraft, to be based at Luxembourg’s Findel Airport.

These propeller-driven aircraft can land on a large body of water to collect supplies to release over wildfires.

Photo: Air Tractor

Air Tractor is based in Onley, Texas and describes its AT-802F Fire Boss as an amphibious scooper air tanker, claiming: “No other air tanker attacks wildland/urban interface fires with the agility, tempo and effectiveness of the 802F Fire Boss.”

While Cargolux has declined to comment, a spokesperson for a labour union at the airline told The Loadstar: “The decision [to move into aerial firefighting] was taken by Cargolux’s board of directors. The unions were not consulted.”

It is unclear when the first fire-fighting aircraft will be delivered to Cargolux, but RTL Today’s report says the airline plans to participate in tenders across Europe next year.

The report quotes acting minister for mobility and transport François Bausch, who said part of Cargolux’s strategy was to diversify, and if it was moving into aerial firefighting this was an interesting route to pursue, given Europe’s pressing need for more resources to combat forest fires.

At the height of the tourist season in July this year, wildfires swept across the Greek island of Rhodes, resulting in 15% of its land being scorched. Other parts of Greece were also devastated and, with the prospect of wildfires becoming more frequent in the years to come, the EU has itself invested in up to a dozen additional firefighting aircraft. It had doubled its reserve aerial firefighting fleet last year in preparation for summer.

The ‘Canadair’-type aircraft, at around €30m each and can also scoop up water to tackle blazes, will be  stationed in, and legally owned, by the southern European states of Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

However, they will not be available until 2027, as the manufacturer is re-launching production. This makes Cargolux’s diversification move extremely timely and, no doubt, very lucrative given the scarcity of aerial firefighting capacity.