With more than 200 airports worldwide sporting its systems ACO can rightfully stake claim to being on the flight path for success.

Not resting on its laurels, the world market leader and innovator in the field of corrosion-resistant polymer concrete and stainless steel surface drainage systems is poised to spread its wings further by expanding its operations in the region.
“Operating from our base in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in the UAE, we are currently in the process of expanding our operations in the Middle East to include Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Levant regions. Over the past 15 years, we have established an extremely strong presence in the region by offering solutions to a wide range of problems in surface drainage and containment and have become the foremost name in the field,” says Keith Lambourne, group export director.
In line with its expansion plans and supporting its offices and distributors throughout the region, ACO will once again be exhibiting at the Big 5 show with the company’s latest range of drainage systems and water treatment technologies.
“With one of the world’s most extensive and best-designed product portfolios, we have had tens of thousands of meters of channel drainage systems installed in projects around the Middle East and more than 100 million metres installed worldwide,” continues Lambourne. “We have also supplied our surface drainage systems to many international airports in the Middle East. One of our recent projects involved the supply of 6,000 m of ACO polymer CR subframe with F900kN ductile iron gratings to the aprons at the Cairo Airport in Egypt. The CR polymer subframe used was developed specifically for use with cast in-situ concrete channels to provide a strong, secure and durable solution by the preventing loose gratings and the degrading of ordinary concrete at the channel surface.”
“The CR system has also been installed in airports in Saudi Arabia and has proved to be a simple and cost-effective method of ensuring a solution to the surface problems that can be encountered by casting an all-concrete channel, according to Lambourne.
In addition, The company’s S channel system has been used extensively in airports worldwide which include Kuwait, Dubai, Oman, Ghana, Johannesburg and Athens. This system consists of a one-metre-long polymer concrete channel with a cast iron rail incorporated and two ductile iron F900 kN gratings bolted to the unit eight times every meter to ensure security.
The corrosion-resistant qualities of polymer concrete channels help it to remain unaffected by salts, petrol, diesel, oil and a range of acids and alkaline and make it suitable for airport environments where ordinary concrete would easily deteriorate.
In addition, a wide range of its other product lines have found application in a number of airport projects worldwide. ACO’s stainless steel channels, gullies and gratings have been installed at the new catering kitchens of Emirates airlines at Dubai International Airport, Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific airlines in Hong Kong and the the airline catering kitchens at Abu Dhabi and Lagos Airport in Nigeria.
“The corrosion resistance and hygienic qualities of the ACO channel systems, which are manufactured from stainless steel make them suitable for use in food preparation areas where sanitation is essential and where other types of material could corrode. These systems also provide the best solution for the removal or containment of surface liquids and are economic, safe, lightweight, simple and fast to install,” says Lambourne.
Founded in 1946, the ACO group has offices in Europe, US, Australia, the Middle and Far East and employs more than 3,200 people worldwide, with around 26 production sites in 12 countries.