Farnborough Airport, the location of Britain's first powered flight, has bought a pair of innovative fuel tankers from Mercedes-Benz. The new machines are based on Econic municipal chassis and started life as 18-tonne rigids. They were then converted to 4x2 tractor units at Mercedes' specialist production facility in Molsheim, France, as well as being modified to meet strict safety requirements.
"TAG Aviation, which manages the airport, stipulated when we won this contract that we should
use Mercedes vehicles, so we initially drafted in a couple of second-hand Actroses while we developed the Econics in partnership with Mercedes-Benz," says Mike Kay, UK automotive manager for the trucks' owner ExxonMobil Aviation. "They are perfectly tailored to the role. TAG's operatives are in and out of these trucks all day, so the low-entry cab is a big plus. Visibility is excellent too."
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