CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Chicago Department of Aviation unvieled Friday a new, state-of-the-art Central Deicing Facility at O'Hare International Airport.
The new facility, otherwise known as "the ice rink," takes the deicing procedure away from airline gates and allows for more efficiency before departure and less gate delays.
The Central Deicing Facility will be used by American Airlines and United Airlines. It takes up 835,000 square feet of space, the size of about 17 football fields, and can accomodate up to 20 narrow body airplanes or five wide body airplanes at a time.
The facility is the largest deicing facility of its kind in the U.S. and second largest in the world.