Goldhofer’s First Phoenix E for Lufthansa LEOS in Frankfurt

Dec. 20, 2021

Goldhofer Airport Technology celebrated a milestone as the first electric towbarless aircraft tractor has now been delivered.

Shortly before Christmas, the first electric towbarless aircraft tractor left the company’s production plant in Memmingen, Germany. Following the successful completion of trials in Munich, Vienna, Zurich and Los Angeles, the first customer vehicle has now been produced and delivered to Lufthansa LEOS. This is also a milestone for Frankfurt Airport, and a big step forward on the road to emission-free ground handling there.

The Phoenix E at a Glance

The Phoenix towbarless aircraft tractor is the flagship of the Goldhofer tow tractor fleet. It is a powerful performer, offering speeds of up to 32 km/h for maintenance tows. It also has the versatility to handle the full range of today’s aircraft up to a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 352 tons. This makes it one of the biggest-selling tow tractors on the market.

The e-version comes with Goldhofer’s tried-and-tested IonMaster technology, a high-performance electric drive that works with extremely efficient 700 V lithium-ion batteries and is engineered to the highest standards of safety. In addition, the TMS system (Thermo Management System), which is part of the IonMaster concept, delivers very short charging times, and supports fast and opportunity charging at all standard AC and DC charging points up to 150 kW.