As wildfires spread across Europe, authorities are struggling to secure vital firefighting aircraft and are grappling with difficult choices.
The delayed but inevitable wildfire season has arrived again in Europe this year, after ravaging the Balkans and Greece, with flames now burning on the Portuguese island of Madeira, off the coast of Morocco.
RescEU, the EU's civil defence mechanism that promotes cooperation between national authorities, was quickly sprung into action, helping Portugal acquire two water cannon trucks from Spain, which are now being used to fight the fires on the island of Madeira.
The European Commission wants to strengthen this system and plans to invest 600 million euros in buying more aerial firefighters.
But the committee faces one big problem: Canadian manufacturer de Havilland, which makes the world's only firefighting aircraft, the DHC-515, known as “Canadairs,” is currently experiencing production delays after restarting its only production line in March 2022.
In Europe, the need for new aerial firefighting aircraft will only become more urgent as current aircraft age and the continent faces more intense and frequent forest fires.
Officials are considering whether new aircraft production lines in Europe could help solve the problem, but many obstacles stand in the way.
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De Havilland needs orders for at least 20 aircraft to restart production lines, but the orders could be spread among several buyers.
European countries have done just that, with Spain ordering seven, Greece seven, France, Portugal and Croatia two each. “Other (European) orders are in discussions,” de Havilland told Euraactive. Another order from Italy is due to be signed in the “coming weeks.”
As expected, de Havilland confirmed that “first deliveries will take place in late 2027 or early 2028.”
Some are skeptical. “The deadline, which is extended year after year…raises legitimate doubts about the practical viability of the French order,” Jean-Pierre Vogel, a French senator who has been studying the issue for the past five years, wrote in a July 2023 report.
There are other supply constraints in the Canadair's lifecycle that are causing problems.
In France, Sabena Technics is the only maintainer authorised to service the aircraft, but the company has faced problems recruiting, dealing with strikes and sourcing certain spare parts.
The French fleet is over 20 years old and the overall situation is resulting in prolonged maintenance times and costs.
As a result, only half of France's 12 planes were operational as of mid-August, Benoît Queinepoix, a pilot for Air Canada and member of France's civil aviation union SNPNAC, told France's Liberation newspaper.
As a result, France could be forced to contract helicopters and aerial firefighters from the private sector at a cost of around 16 million euros for the summer of 2023 alone, according to a French Senate report.
A European alternative?
If the Commission is prepared to buy water bombers, the question arises: wouldn't these funds be better invested in establishing a European production line capable of producing new replacement firefighting aircraft in the long term?
Several European start-ups want to develop the water bomber, including Belgium's Roadfor, which plans a prototype after 2030. In France, Ginelo is developing a prototype that it says could enter service in 2031.
Existing aircraft manufacturers are skeptical and have serious concerns about the viability of developing the aircraft in Europe: a French Senate report said firefighting aircraft would require billions of euros of investment for a very small global market estimated at around 300 aircraft, fewer than 100 of which would be needed in Europe.
Under the current circumstances, “it is economically impossible to produce the aircraft without making it prohibitively expensive for the buyer,” Airbus explained to French senators, a statement backed up by the Roadfor project, which estimates the cost per aircraft at 60-70 million euros.
Europe has some complementary options, including modifying existing aircraft. For example, large Airbus A400M military planes can be fitted with water-dropping kits to slow the spread of fires. But this is not the same as dropping “water bombs” to put out fires that have already started.
And like most other European adaptation or industrialization projects, this one is still in its early stages and has yet to be extensively tested.
As a result, the Canadian solution remains the EU's preferred option.
But with no new aircraft expected to arrive anytime soon and an expected increase in forest fires, the situation is likely to worsen.
(Edited by Donna Cagney/Rajnish Singh)
