26/6/2025

Airports are the heart of modern transportation and include many moving parts, from aircraft hangars to refueling stations, passenger terminals to maintenance facilities. This diversity brings with it significant fire risks, so it is of great importance to develop an effective fire safety strategy in every premises. This article explores the basic elements of fire safety at airports and highlights the factors that can minimize potential risks and enhance overall fire protection.

Fire Risks Specific to Airports

Airports present unique fire hazards due to the combination of high-energy aircraft operations, flammable fuels, maintenance procedures, and passenger activities. The United States-based NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), a pioneer in airlines and passenger transportation, has identified fire risks and safety measures in the aviation industry. The main factors are fuel ignition, aircraft electrical systems, and maintenance operations. Therefore, fire safety measures must cover both airborne and ground-based risks.

Passenger Terminals: Balancing Security and Functionality

Passenger terminals are high-traffic areas with many potential ignition sources, such as restaurants, baggage conveyors, and complex electrical systems. In these busy areas, the implementation of state-of-the-art fire detection and suppression systems is essential for both life safety and infrastructure protection.

Modern fire safety solutions include preventing the spread of fire with smoke control systems, ensuring safe evacuation with emergency evacuation plans and increasing the resilience of structures with fire-resistant materials. These solutions should be tailored to the needs of the airport, determined through risk assessments and simulations.

Aircraft Hangars: The Foundation Point of Fire Safety

Since aircraft hangars house the most valuable investment in the aviation sector, ensuring fire safety is one of the most important priorities. In these types of facilities, which contain large volumes and few compartments, the correct integration of both active and passive fire protection systems is critical. Both active solutions such as foam extinguishing systems, rapid fire detection technologies and passive measures such as fire-resistant walls and insulated partitions must work together.

Refueling Operations: Controlling the Most Volatile Risk

Fuel handling and storage is one of the highest fire risks at airports. From aircraft refueling stations to underground lines and storage tanks, every stage of the fuel management process must be designed in accordance with strict safety protocols. In this context, NFPA standards specify comprehensive safety measures for aircraft refueling, emphasizing the importance of spill prevention, static electricity management, and emergency shutdown systems.

Advanced security solutions against fire risk and fire-resistant infrastructure, automatic closing mechanisms and emergency response plans must be implemented correctly at refueling stations.

Ensuring Compliance with Aircraft Maintenance Processes and Fire Safety

Aircraft maintenance activities include many procedures that increase fire hazards, such as welding operations, fuel tank inspections, and component testing. NFPA standards provide guidelines for safe aircraft maintenance practices, requiring proper ventilation, fire-resistant equipment, and separation of flammable materials. Maintenance procedures should be evaluated considering fire safety conditions, and emergency response strategies should be developed by taking precautions against fire in work areas.

Emergency Preparedness and Response: The Importance of Rapid Reaction

The most important element in any fire that may occur at airports is a well-prepared emergency response plan. NFPA standards and ICAO regulations specify aircraft rescue and firefighting protocols in detail. Firefighters working at airports must be equipped with special vehicles, high-performance extinguishing systems and rapid response capacity. It is of great importance to ensure that personnel act effectively in the event of a fire with training programs and emergency planning.

Result: Continuous and Proactive Security Approach

Fire safety at airports is a dynamic area that requires constant innovation, evaluation and updating. Regular updates from international institutions such as ICAO and NFPA support the implementation of the most up-to-date security measures at airports.

In recent years, there have been developments such as increasing the sensitivity of smoke evacuation systems and switching to environmentally friendly fire extinguishing agents.

By closely following the most up-to-date fire safety standards and innovative systems, a high level of fire resistance can be created at airports through professional fire engineering and consultancy services, thus ensuring the safety of passengers, personnel and aviation assets.

To effectively implement fire safety measures in airports, a thorough understanding of both national and international standards and aviation regulations is essential. Efectis’ fire consultancy team, with expertise in national and international standards, is equipped to address your specific fire safety needs with tailored technical solutions.

Batteries and electric vehicles

Efectis also has testing facilities dedicated to the fire behaviour of batteries weighing up to several tons, particularly for railway applications, and carries out fire tests for energy storage solutions (lithium battery modules and cases, containers, BESS). We are able to perform fire tests on all types of electric batteries (Lithium-ion or other) according to the following standards:

  • IEC 62919 §7.3.3– thermal runaway propagation test,
  • ECE R100 § 6.5 and Annex 9 F,
  • UL 9540A: multi-scale tests and extinction systems,
  • Certification tests for railway vehicles,
  • Energy storage and industrial applications (IEC 62619, UL 2596, UL 1973, etc.).

Efectis is also a member of BEPA (Batteries European Partnership Association) and Batteries Europe. Through its fire safety engineering studies, Efectis also carries out numerous numerical simulations of battery fire development in order to assess the associated thermal risks.

We are also currently a research partner in an insurer-funded research project related to the fire risk assessment of lithium-ion batteries in residential applications and in a project related to the electrification of vehicles in car parks.

Fire behaviour of façades

Efectis is recognised by the competent authorities in order to issue official recognitions and classifications required by national legislation regarding the fire behaviour of facades including the use of innovative materials and systems, such as green façades, bio-sourced products, etc.:

  • Standardised methods and facilities such as LEPIR 2, BS 8414-1 and -2, ISO 13785-1, also used for façade systems consisting in Building Applied Photovoltaics (BAPV), Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), or solar thermal,
  • Other relevant testing approaches.

In addition, Efectis was member of the European project Finalisation of the European approach to assess the fire performance of facades. In the frame of the project SI2.825082 financed by the European Commission – DG GROW, we carried out a series of tests for the development, at the European level, of a method to assess the fire performance of façades. At the national level, Efectis was involved in the FRENETICS project (2019-2024) funded the French National Research Agency (ANR). FRENETICS aimed to carry out measurements that are more detailed during fire reaction tests of façade systems, as well as to develop the scientific and technical knowledge essential to understanding the fire safety of facades and necessary to strengthen research on new low-flammability materials and safer systems.

Solar panels and roofs

Our laboratories are recognised and equipped for fire behaviour testing of roofs and solar panels according to XP CEN/TS 1187 and EN 13501-5, leading to classification Broof, Croof, Droof, Eroof. The experimental standard XP CEN/TS 1187 includes 4 different test methods. The classification obtained is therefore directly linked to the method chosen. The class notation therefore differs. For example, France uses the method 3 and the United Kingdom uses the method 4. The classification will therefore be noted Broof(t3) for France and Broof(t4) for the United Kingdom. The laboratories can direct requests according to the market targeted by the customer.

New energies and AFs

The Research and Development department of Efectis, is always working on new methods to assess the fire safety. We are now involved as partner in the EU project ROAD TRHyP which overall objective is to develop and validate high payload hydrogen trailers with new composite cylinders (Type V). Efectis is in charge of the work package related to fire safety. For more information, visit the project at www.road-trhyp.eu.

ATEX and Explosion Support Services

Efectis is able to provide a complete service for the topics related to:

Testing offer coming soon according to EN ISO/IEC 80079-20-2 standard.
Customised Technical Support and Guidance, with a comprehensive, tailor-made assistance based on recommendations during the early design phase of equipment, assemblies, or installations, including risk assessment study, evaluation of design constraints, and analysis of potential deviations according to the applicable series standards EN/IEC 60079 and EN/ISO 80079, as well as relevant regulations such as the ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU (Europe EHSR) and the IECEx Scheme (Global framework).

Regulatory Compliance Support, through our expert support to help manufacturers navigate and understand compliance requirements for equipment and installations prior to market launch, aligned with specific national regulations or adaptations (INMETRO for Brazil, CCC Ex for China).

ATEX Training Programs on the design and installation of electrical and non-electrical equipment for use in explosive atmospheres, covering key ATEX protection methods, European Directives 2014/34/EU and 1999/92/EC, IECEx certification system, and essential rules for equipment and system installation.

Numerical simulations

Fire tests are complemented with risk analysis and numerical simulations to evaluate:

  • Fire development, heat flux & safety distances
  • Impact of smoke on human safety (personnel and means of intervention)
  • The sizing of the discharge walls and safety barriers
  • Assessment of the explosion effects
  • Thermomechanical calculations to characterize the fire resistance of constructive elements and resistance to overpressure
  • Simulations of gas and toxic dispersion/accumulation

For more information, please contact Mohamad El Houssami