( CNN ) -- Ensuring a bustling aviation hub runs like clockwork is a challenging endeavor at the best of times . Doing so under a blizzard of thick snow , ice and freezing fog can only intensify the battle against the clock . Faced with these winter extremities for almost half the year , Oslo Airport has recruited a secret weapon to help meet its scheduling commitments -- the TV 2000 snow-blower . Weighing in at a mammoth 40 tons and with a price tag of just under $ 2 million , the giant snow-plow can clear a three kilometer runway in as little as 15 minutes . The TV 2000 can remove `` about ten thousand tons of snow an hour , '' said the airport 's head of services , Henning Bratebeck . `` It pushes the snow with a plow , it sweeps the runway and it blows the snow to the side , '' he added . An array of smaller vehicles finish the job . There are only four such devices in the world , he added , and Oslo Airport has snapped up two of them . See also : Iceland bouncing back on tourism boom . Employing such advanced weather management systems make sense for an airport situated just a few hundred miles from the Arctic Circle . Winter stretches between October and April in Norway , with snow falling regularly during this period . According to Oslo Airport CEO , Nic Nilsen , this has pushed Oslo to become a leader in airport snow maintenance . `` We have winter six months a year , and we need to be able to handle winter operations more or less like summer operations , '' Nilsen says . `` This requires good planning , it requires a lot of resources , good procedures and a lot of training . `` ( If not ) we will more or less be out of business , '' he added . See also : The rise of airport dating . The TV 2000 is a key weapon in the fight to keep flights on time but , as Nilsen intimates , there are a host of other snow-clearing devices and tactics employed at Oslo Airport . This includes a rigorous de-icing process for aircraft and runways as well as a fleet of giant plows that follow the TV 2000 to clear the snow blown off runways . An extra 90 people meanwhile are hired by the airport just to assist with snow clearance during winter months . `` The idea is this ( TV 2000 ) basically does the grunt work , '' Bratebeck explained . `` ( But we also always ) have 27 guys ready in case the snow starts falling . '' As soon as `` the first flakes fall down we will drive out ... and ( begin ) the snow cleaning , '' he added . The effectiveness and military-like precision of this process becomes fully clear when compared to winter performance at other European airports . See also : Gulf airlines shaking up alliances . Few sites are exposed to the elements with such regularity , yet almost all find it hard to compete with Oslo 's record on punctuality . Around 40 percent of flights were cancelled at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports on just one day in January this year . Frankfurt meanwhile was forced to close operations , leading to the cancellation of some 500 flights in the process . By comparison Oslo has only ever had to cease operations because of heavy snow twice since opening its doors in 1998 . On both occasions operations were up and running again after a matter of hours -- although Oslo Airport is considerably smaller than those in London , Paris and Frankfurt . `` I think it 's fair to say that after fourteen years we are in the position where we have a very solid and very good operation , '' says Nilsen . `` We are well prepared , know how to handle the situation , and we also have a policy of standardizing the fleet of vehicles , so maintenance and renewal is much more easy . `` ( But ) we know that one winter will always play different from the previous ones so we ( will always ) learn something new , '' he added .
Oslo Airport in Norway has a secret weapon in its battle against the winter elements . The TV 2000 is hugesnow-blower that can clear a three kilometer runway in 15 minutes . Oslo has one of the best records in Europe for on-time departure of flights .