THE CHALLENGE

With the construction of a new state of the art base for France’s aerial firefighting fleet, Nimes Airport needed a fuel supplier it could rely on. The Base Avions de la Sécurité Civile (BASC) and Aerial Firefighting Training Centre, operated by Edeis, opened in the early summer of 2017 and immediately started looking for the right fuelling partner. Edeis is the leading airport operator in France, as well as being a major player in the engineering and infrastructure management sector. The group has a workforce of more than 1,000 employees in France and abroad.

FINDING A SOLUTION

With its adaptive and collaborative approach, World Fuel Services quickly proved that it had the right set of expertise to support Edeis. Since the launch of the new firefighting centre the global supplier has been providing bulk fuel supply to keep French firefighters in the air. World Fuel Services’ refuelling activities include into-plane services to the firefighting aircraft fleet, consisting of: 12 Canadair CL-415s, nine Tracker S-2FTS, two Bombardier Dash 8s, two Beech 200s and one Beech 1900. The fleet is responsible for protecting the entire South of France during the summer months, from Bordeaux to Nice, including the Alps. Mark Amor, World Fuel Services’ vice president, commented: “The nature of the work with BASC and Edeis means we have to be industry-leading in our ability to be responsive, working quickly to facilitate extremely fast turnaround times. “Forest fires can spread rapidly, causing huge disruption to the communities and businesses they affect. Since the partnership started in 2017, World Fuel Services has provided the necessary fuel to support the firefighting team in combating forest fires – an area of our work we are immensely proud of.”