AGSAIRLINE GROUND SERVICES - Airline Routes & Ground Services
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
WINTER 2015/SPRING 2016
AGS
AIRLINE
GROUND
SERVICES
www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com
WESTJET HANDLING WHAT IF WORLDWIDE DIRECTORY
ACROSS LESSONS FROM UK SAYS OF GROUND
THE WAVES THE CLASSROOM ADIOS TO EU? SERVICE PROVIDERS
From XS to XXL. Fraport provides the perfect service tailored to every plane. Every airline customer is unique – and should expect customized service. A ground handling partner with years of experience and expertise, Fraport AG knows exactly what each airline needs. Together, we develop the right solutions designed to meet your specific requirements. Flexibility is a major advantage, especially when we have to get late arriving planes out even faster. We know the processes on the ground and can move into action with speed, precision and efficiency. We put performance first, not size. Let us be your flexible ground handling partner. Contact the Fraport ground services: phone +49 (0) 69 690-71101 / handling@fraport.de / www.fraport.com Fraport. The Airport Managers.
EDITOR’S LETTER | WINTER 2015/SUMMER 2016
LETTER FROM AGS
AIRLINE
GROUND
WINTER 2015/SPRING 2016
SERVICES
THE EDITOR
www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com
WESTJET HANDLING WHAT IF WORLDWIDE DIRECTORY
ACROSS LESSONS FROM UK SAYS OF GROUND
THE WAVES THE CLASSROOM ADIOS TO EU? SERVICE PROVIDERS
T
here is an old adage in journalism: follow the money.
Ground handlers, like the rest of aviation, are reaping PARVEEN RAJA
Publisher
the benefits of lower prices at the pump that the world parveen@evaint.com
has enjoyed this year. Our look at the American ground
handling market discovers that the lower prices are
HARLEY KHAN
allowing airlines to slash fares – thus attracting more passengers that Head of Commercial
have to be handled. harley@evaint.com
Iraq has been selling its low grade ‘Basra heavy’ crude on global
markets for as little as $30 a barrel. It is no surprise that there are now BHAVI PATEL
at least 100 million barrels being stored on tankers offshore. Events Coordinator
bhavi@evaint.com
According to the London Daily Telegraph, Goldman Sachs has
told clients that the glut of oil on the global market combined with
mild weather from a freak El Niño this winter could send prices SHOBHANA PATEL
Head of Finance
plummeting to $20 a barrel. Early last year, oil was $110 a barrel. shobi@evaint.com
At the same time, the Fight for 15 in the US may produce higher
staff and personnel costs for US handlers as staff agitate for a living
CHARLOTTE WILLIS
wage. Many bean-counters may have sharp intakes of breath when Events and Circulation
faced with a higher salary costs but surely a better paid staff are a charlotte@evaint.com
better motivated staff?
In this issue, we look at the acquisitions by HNA of Swissport SHELDON PINK
and Platinum Equity of Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) and the Creative Director
sheldon@evaint.com
interesting Indian ground handler who has become an airline.
Cybersecurity on the apron remains a hot topic and we look at the
dangers of hacking the increasing number of computers used in GSE. Address changes and subscription orders to:
circulation@evaint.com
AGS readers outside the UK, and especially outside of the EU, may ISSN 2040-476X
not be familiar with the prospects of Britain voting to stay in or leave
the Union. While many might say this is simply a political matter for EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Lewis, David Smith,
the UK government and people, global handlers with, say, a branch Eugene Gerden and Martin Courtney
at London Heathrow and Paris CDG could find they have one station
inside the EU and one outside the Union.
At the time of going to press, No 10 Downing Street has remained PUBLISHED TWICE A YEAR BY
tight-lipped as to a likely date for a vote on EU membership. We will EVA International Media Ltd
Boswell Cottage, 19 South End
have to wait and see. Q Croydon, London CR0 1BE
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 8253 4000
Fax: + 44 (0)20 8603 7369
Website: www.evaint.com
PRINTED BY
Headley Brothers
The Invicta Press, Lower Queens Road
Ashford, Kent, TN24 8HH, UK
DISTRIBUTED BY
Ascendia
EVA INTERNATIONAL MEDIA LTD
PUBLISHERS & EVENTS SPECIALISTS
JAMES GRAHAM Is s u e 2 0 © 2 0 1 5 | w w w. e v a i n t . c o m
Editor Content may not be reproduced in any
format without written permission from
james@evaint.com EVA International Media Ltd
www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com WINTER 2015/SPRING 2016 Airline Ground Services 1
CONTENTS | WINTER 2015/SPRING 2016
CONTENTS
1 Editor’s letter
4
4 WestJet hops the Atlantic
Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet has jumped the Pond with new services to the EU.
Has it been a smooth landing?
8 The ground handler that became an airline
Fifteen years after founding a ground handling company, the demise of Air Deccan
prompted Indian entrepreneur Shyson Thomas to take to the skies to capture some of
India’s booming domestic passenger market
10 Uncle Sam’s ground handling year
There were mixed fortunes for airline ground handling activity in the United States in 2015
as the year saw deals inked and labour unsettled
16 Cooking up competition
In-flight catering is dominated by two giants: LSG Sky Chefs, which provides 578 million meals
a year for 300 airlines and Gate Gourmet, which supplies 250 million meals a year at around
120 airports. Can smaller operators get a slice of the pie? David Smith looks into the kitchen
20 Green initiatives on view at Frankfurt
Being green is not enough – initiatives must be visible to passengers to avoid
charges of greenwashing
22 Ground handling training in a virtual classroom
Today, almost all ground handlers must have valid training according to their job
description. The Internet can now bring learning to the workplace around the clock
25 Greening airside operations
The 21st-century ground handler has a role to play in creating and delivering sustainable,
green airports worldwide, discovers James Graham
28 Money moves in the billion-dollar business
30 In? Out? Will Brexit shake the airline industry all about?
To paraphrase Groucho Marx, why join a club that wants you as a member? Noted
transport journalist Chris Lewis looks at what might happen to airline ground handling in
the UK if the country says ‘adios’
16
32 Regional focus: Russia
32 On-ramp data security more critical than ever
Few cyber security attacks on ground handling IT systems have been recorded to date, but
37 operators cannot afford to be complacent, discovers Martin Courtney
37 From the moment the chocks are set
Janet Wallace, director, airport services, contracts & administration for Air Canada looks at whether
the industry has reached ‘peak’ turnaround. AGS editor James Graham asked the questions
38 SGS IPO massively oversubscribed
/New logo new member for ground.net
39 Scandinavian Airlines in GSE sale and leaseback
41 Smart use of Smartphones at JFK
42 T-Systems reinvents ground handling software with GHAMS
43 Worldwide Directory of Ground Service Providers
2 Airline Ground Services Winter 2015/Spring 2016 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com
FEATURE | WESTJET AIRLINES
WESTJET HOPS
THE ATLANTIC
W
Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet has hen WestJet Airlines, a Calgary-based low-
cost carrier established in 1996, featured
jumped the Pond with new services to the in Airline Ground Services’ Winter 2013/
EU. Has it been a smooth landing? Spring 2014 edition, it operated an exten-
sive network across Canada, the US, Mexi-
co and the Caribbean. Two years later, it has taken its services
to the next level by launching two summer services to the
UK and Ireland and announcing a third service to another
European Union destination.
The start of routes to Glasgow and Dublin in May, 2015,
to be followed in 2016 by the launch of a service to Lon-
don Gatwick, means the carrier has entered one of the most
competitive traffic lanes in the world. As there is not a ton of
growth among new flyers crossing the Atlantic, will WestJet
have to bear down on what it pays for ground handling to
stop the bottom line bleeding red?
Andrew Kay, WestJet director of International Airports,
considers that its partnerships with third party ground
handlers will ensure the expansion is profitable. He says:
4 Airline Ground Services Winter 2015/Spring 2016 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com
FEATURE | WESTJET AIRLINES
“We do what we do to liberate Canadians regards to ground handling operations.
from the high cost of air travel. Apart That is why they undertook due diligence
from Air Canada, there are many other checks on the new markets.
carriers our guests or potential guests He says: “There was nothing that
can book with. Our partners are also in was significantly surprising. We do
this business to make sure our guests our best, through publications like Air-
keep coming back. We work with these line Ground Services as well as industry
handling companies to ensure a success- events and groups, to remain up to date
ful relationship.” in as many jurisdictions as possible.
Glasgow Airport (GLA) welcomed “There have been some additional
WestJet as a new customer on 30 May “We do our best, through procedures we have needed to put into
with the launch of a daily service until 31 publications like Airline Ground place to ensure we are in compliance
October. The same-aircraft daily service Services as well as industry events with European passenger rights legisla-
begins in Toronto with a stop in Halifax. and groups, to remain up to date in tion. At this point, in using both Men-
The airline is Menzies Aviation’s first Ca- as many jurisdictions as possible” zies and SkyHandling Partner, we have
nadian carrier at GLA. left the old world labour laws in their
Andrew Kay
The WestJet service to Glasgow, capable hands.”
Scotland’s largest city, lands at 8.00am The airline uses a 137 passenger
local time, offering opportunities to con- heartedly. It’s a fantastic addition to two-engine Boeing 737-700 on the Dub-
nect via 30 airlines to more than 100 the GLA portfolio.” lin and Glasgow routes. The aircraft
non-stop and connecting destinations Across the Atlantic, Menzies handles has a 90-minute turnaround following
across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the WestJet ramp in Toronto, Canada its 8.00am arrival in Scotland and an
Asia and Australia. and acts as WestJet’s cargo handler in 80-minute turnaround after its 7.00am
Sharon Robertson, Menzies Avia- Calgary and Vancouver. Menzies also arrival in the Irish capital. In 2016, the
tion’s Station Manager GLA, said: “We provides the carrier with below-the- carrier will use a larger Boeing 767 for
fought hard to win the contract over wing services in Mexico. flights to London Gatwick.
Swissport and we’re delighted that WestJet offers complementary re-
WestJet have signed up for a three- REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT freshments and snacks. Kay says: “The
year contract. The win has allowed In coming to Europe, Kay and his team option to purchase items such as sand-
us to employ additional staff and the were conscious that they were entering a wiches, cheese trays and alcoholic bev-
team has embraced WestJet whole- new regulatory and legislative regime in erages is also available onboard. We do
© Günter Wicker / Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH
/AeroGround goes
Berlin!
Living ideas – Connecting lives
AeroGround is the leading ground services provider at Munich
Airport and offers ramp, passenger & cargo handling under one roof.
It also operates a second handling station in Berlin-Schönefeld.
Visit our Website to
find out more about
our Ground Services:
www.munich-airport.
com/aeroground
www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Winter 2015/Spring 2016 Airline Ground Services 5
'&"563&] 8&45+&5"*3-*/&4
Æ
not uplift catering in Glasgow or Dub-
lin. Our guests travelling in Plus receive
these food items as well as beverages
such as soft drinks, beer, wine and spirits
service will be offered to Glasgow, he
notes. “We would always be willing to
look at options for cargo into or out of
Glasgow. This will be contingent on the
h8FIBWFCFFO
SFBMMZIBQQZXJUI
UIFDBSHPHPJOHJOUP
BOEPVUPG%VCMJO
included with their fare.” routes we fly as well as the aircraft that
8FXFMDPNFCPUI
flies the route.
$BOBEJBOBOE*SJTI
-0/%0/("58*$, “We are really pleased with the cargo
GSFJHIUXJUIFRVBM
WestJet has announced its expansion to business in general and analyse every
BQMPNCv
London Gatwick (LGW) in 2016. The route we fly to see if we can make it suc-
cessful from a cargo perspective. That Andrew Kay
airline will begin the services on May
6, 2016. However, many technical and analysis for LGW will be occurring in
operational details are yet to be planned. the near future. The range of our 767
Kay says: “The announcement to fly to provides us with a lot of opportunity
LGW was made relatively early and from a variety of origins in Canada.”
as such, we will explore and consider Jettainer, the leading international
our options for handling in the near service partner for outsourced ULD
future. Our normal process following management, has been selected to man-
this information-gathering is to issue age and maintain the pallets and con-
a request for proposal outlining our tainers of WestJet. Operations are in
required scope of services. conjunction with the inaugural flight of
“Once responses are returned and the carrier’s first wide-body service.
reviewed, the contract will be awarded As a first step, WestJet will utilise a
to the handler that fits our culture, guest mixture of nearly 400 pallets and con-
experience, and pricing model. Menzies tainers. They will come into operation
in GLA provides us with a great team on flights of a Boeing 767-300ER air-
that complements the guest experience craft delivered to WestJet recently; three
in all of our WestJet bases.” more of the aircraft type are to follow.
The low-cost airline avoids air When the decision is made as to
freight movements in North America as whether freight services are offered to
being a brake on turnaround times and and from LGW, a request for proposal
not being a core business activity. How- will be issued for a cargo ground han-
ever, in establishing its Irish route, the dling provider.
carrier took advantage of the 1,555 ft³ Kay says: “We have been successful in
(44m³) of forward and aft cargo holds more than 90 airports in over 20 coun-
to develop a stream of cargo to and from tries in working with ground handling
the Republic of Ireland. partners to ensure our safe processes are
Kay says: “We have been really hap- followed. Our move to the other side of
py with the cargo going into and out of the Pond has been a great success and
Dublin. We welcome both Canadian we look forward to repeating our success
and Irish freight with equal aplomb.” as we build on our European destina-
It is too early to know whether cargo tions with Gatwick next summer.”
"JSMJOF(SPVOE4FSWJDFT8JOUFS4QSJOH XXXBHTBJSMJOFHSPVOETFSWJDFTDPN
Your trusted partner Available at 27 airports in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Ground Services Company is determined to provide its client airlines the best services for a smooth & efficient operation with safety and on-Time performance sgsaviation.com.sa
PROFILE | SHYSON THOMAS
THE GROUND HANDLER
THAT BECAME AN AIRLINE
Fifteen years after founding a ground handling company, the demise of Air Deccan prompted
Indian entrepreneur Shyson Thomas to take to the skies to capture some of India’s booming
domestic passenger market
T
he potential of the domes- managing director of Decor Aviation, an world’s third-largest aviation market,
tic Indian aviation market airport ground handling company based behind China and the US.
is in the numbers. India is in Bangalore, to take the next step and Thomas explains his confidence in
a developing economy with launch his own airline, Air Pegasus. launching his airline: “Air Pegasus is a
enormous growth potential regional airline providing 13 daily flights
for aviation. On average, people in the INDIAN POTENTIAL connecting south India to south India.
US travel by plane domestically about 1.8 IATA has called for the development In that sense, we are fully confined to
times per year. In India, the average is 0.1 of a comprehensive policy for aviation southern India airports. We do not want
trips per year. Put another way, one trip aligned with the Indian Government’s to compete with our big brothers, such
by air every 10 years. stated intention to make it easier to do as IndiGo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet
If India’s 1.17 billion people travelled business in India. The objective is to al- in the crowded airports such as Delhi,
at the same frequency as do Americans, low India to derive maximum social and Mumbai and Kolkata. The current sce-
a market of 2.1 billion travellers would economic benefits from its aviation mar- nario in India is everybody is compet-
be created. But even if they only trav- ket growth. Currently the ninth-largest ing in long-haul, crowded airports, with
elled one-third as much, India would aviation market, India will see about meagre or no yields.”
have an air travel market of about 700 280 million passen- The ground handler, which oper-
million – rivalling that of the US. gers by 2029, by ates at 13 stations in India, is separate
These figures were revealed in a which time it from the airline, with no cross-over of
speech in the country by IATA Director would be the staff. Decor Aviation has around 800
General Tony Tyler on Indian Aviation employees while Air Pegasus has around
Day 2012. 300 employees. Thomas says: “We have
Mumbai and Delhi airports still rule taken on all required staff in the airline,
the domestic Indian aviation market. including key personnel. We are not
The two airports handle about 600 of mixing handling staff with airline staff.
the 1,600 domestic departures within Both are separate entities.”
India with 50-55 flights a day. With the Decor Aviation, founded in 1988,
expansion of airlines’ operations to tier- offers services such as aircraft ser-
2 and tier-3 cities in India, the entire vicing and maintenance, passen-
country is now connected on an
extensive flight network.
It is this market poten-
tial that tempted Shyson
Thomas, founder and
8 Airline Ground Services Winter 2015/Spring 2016 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.comPROFILE | SHYSON THOMAS
ger handling and facilitation services, boyant characters have been attracted He says: “We have chosen the ATR
fuelling, baggage handling, ramp han- to starting airlines in India, ultimately 72-500 as the best suited aircraft for
dling services and station management crashing and burning in bankruptcy. regional operations. In India, we have
and representation for foreign airlines. Thomas noted the faults and fate of two many city pairs with an average dis-
It is a neutral handler, handling Air headline entrants: Air Deccan and King- tance of 500 to 600km from one air-
Pegasus as well as competitor airlines. fisher Airlines. port to another airport. This is why we
Air Pegasus will only be handled by He says: “Air Deccan basically had a have given greater emphasis to carry-
Decor Aviation. short-term vision of increasing its com- ing more passengers than taking cargo
Thomas has taken advantage of pany’s value and selling it off to some- on board.”
transfer pricing opportunities between one. Air Deccan, though it became very The airline currently connects Ben-
the two companies in the Decor Group. popular, was never a successful airline. galuru International airport (BLR),
He says: “This is a case of a backward Finally, they managed to sell the air- Bangalore with Hubli airport (HBX),
and forward integration for the airline. line to Kingfisher, which was a different Hubli; Madurai airport (IXM), Ma-
The ground handler gets assured busi- model altogether. durai; Chennai International airport
ness from the airline, and on a similar “Kingfisher was in fact a ‘mis-mar- (MAA), Chennai; Mangalore Interna-
note the airline gets quality, prompt riage’ of a low-cost airline with a full-ser- tional airport (IXE), Mangalore; Trivan-
handling services from Decor Aviation. vice, luxurious, flamboyant airline. The drum International airport (TRV); and
There will be a cheaper rate available lesson to learn from Kingfisher’s demise Cuddapah airport (CDP), Cuddapah.
and longer credit.” is that Vijay Mallya could not make any BLR-TRV-BLR is served twice daily as
money out of the airline while its execu- is BLR-HBX-BLR. Daily flights connect
LESSONS LEARNED tives all made lots of money, because of a BLR-IXM-MAA and MAA-IXM-BLR,
For two decades as a handler, Thomas lack of control and monitoring.” BLR-IXE-BLR, BLR-CDP-BLR, BLR-
saw at first hand the best and worst Air Pegasus has been started with MAA-BLR.
practices of airline operations, two ATR 72-500 aircraft, with ambi- Moving into a new sector has
invaluable industry intelligence that he tions to have some 20 aircraft by 2020. brought Thomas new personnel issues.
leveraged when setting up Air Pegasus. In October, the carrier leased three He has had to recruit cabin and flight
In particular, he has been able to avoid further aircraft from Vietnam Airlines deck personnel for the first time. He
the pitfalls of establishing and running to add to the initial pair. The choice of says: “There is no dearth of First Officers
an airline in an emerging market. the Franco-Italian aircraft that offers and flight attendants in India at present.
In the last decade, multi-million no belly cargo capacity is deliberate, However, there is a shortage of ATR cap-
dollar investments and some very flam- notes Thomas. tains in India right now.”
www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Winter 2015/Spring 2016 Airline Ground Services 9FEATURE | UNITED STATES
UNCLE SAM’S
GROUND HANDLING YEAR
S
There were mixed fortunes ix years post-recession, US to June 2015, there were 3.9 million
airlines are finally realis- regularly scheduled domestic US flights
for airline ground handling ing profit margins that are carrying 675 million passengers. This is
activity in the United States on par with the Standard a considerable uptick of 20 million pas-
in 2015 as the year saw deals & Poor (S&P) 500 aver- sengers over 2013/14 and 40 million
age, a barometer of US corporate per- over 2009/10’s total. Some 176 million
inked and labour unsettled formance. According to John Heimlich, international passengers flew through,
vice president and chief economist of to and from the US during 2015.
pressure group Airlines for America According to Joe Phelan, Swissport
(A4A), one factor above all others is key EVP North America, Japan & Korea, it
to this performance: year-over-year im- is this optimism that is creating a posi-
provement was driven almost entirely by tive outlook for ground handling in the
lower fuel costs, which fell 34%, outpac- United States over the next few years.
ing a substantial 10% increase in wages He says: “The ground handling busi-
and benefits. ness in the US will continue to offer
He says: “A4A projected an all-time opportunities as the US legacy carriers
high for summer travel this year and continue to outsource their operations,
year-over-year increases continue. With as do all the low-cost carriers. The han-
capacity increasing and airfares trend- dling companies that can offer qual-
ing downward, air travel continues to be ity service levels, have multiple lines of
more accessible and a bargain for cost- business and have the infrastructure to
conscience consumers.” support value-added services will be the
The inaugural JetBlue flight at CLE: His optimism is mirrored in official ones that have the best chances to re-
FSS is providing the ramp handling figures released by the US Department main and benefit for the long term. The
services for JetBlue of Transportation, which show that up forecast for growth in the US is very
10 Airline Ground Services Winter 2015/Spring 2016 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.comExceeding the Standards with People & Technology
FSS is a leader in the ground handling services industry, currently located at 20
airports throughout the United States. FSS was founded on the principles of safety,
ϐ Ǥ
For more information, please visit www.fsspeople.com or contact us today.
FSS can be reached at +1 877-634-0006 or info@fsspeople.com.FEATURE | UNITED STATES
positive over the next five years and air- One of the most significant develop- business lines including ramp, passenger
craft deliveries are significant.” ments was the launch of United Ground service, cargo and fuelling.
This is echoed by Cleveland-based Express (UGE), a wholly-owned subsidi- “Depending on the market, some are
Flight Services & Systems (FSS), ac- ary of United Airlines, to provide ground more challenging than others. For the
cording to Mandy Dunn, communica- handling services at selected US air- larger markets of JFK, LAX and MIA
tions manager. She notes that this year, ports. Although it is a separate company we usually do not have any problems
FSS has been awarded a trio of ground from United Airlines, UGE will align finding staff. In other markets where we
handling contracts for Silver Airways: with United’s service philosophy. It has compete with legacy carriers and/or the
West Palm Beach, Florida; Fort Myers, begun recruiting and a new website has hotel industry, it’s a bit more challeng-
Florida; and Charleston, South Caro- been launched. ing. The issue in the ground handling
lina. In April, at Cleveland Hopkins In- Lynda Coffman, president of UGE, industry with staff is the waiting period
ternational Airport, FSS started ramp says: “We are launching United Ground for employees to receive their Customs/
handling operation for JetBlue Airways. Express to provide service in more air- Border Patrol badges, which could take
She says: “The ground services mar- ports throughout North America. Ad- up to eight weeks.”
ket is rapidly increasing and we have ditionally, we look forward to providing Dunn says: “FSS is continuously hir-
seen a great deal of activity surrounding exciting job opportunities and creating ing at many of our airport locations. FSS
requests for ground handling services diverse and inclusive work environments has a substantial and proven method in
place for recruitment of high-calibre and
quality employees. We tailor our recruit-
ment strategies for the specific location
and situation, but there is a standard
methodology we follow that has been
working for FSS for many years.
“Some of the best recruitment meth-
ods we have found are recruitment
through referrals or word of mouth, hir-
ing from local colleges/universities and
sourcing from job placement or career
services organisations in the local area.
We also recruit from the military: we
have found great success from local vet-
erans’ offices, air force bases and so on.
If we are hiring a large amount of peo-
ple, for a start-up operation, for exam-
ple, our director of human resources will
hold a job fair in that location.”
FSS hires agents with experience,
which definitely assists in the training
capacity and overall onboarding of the
individual. Dunn adds: “We do not al-
ways require experience when we are
FSS’s fIrst day of EK cleaning at DFW Airport
hiring. We do have a thorough training
programme, which includes a combina-
tion of online training, classroom train-
ing and on-the-job training.”
from airlines. We fully expect this trend in the communities that we’ll serve.”
to remain as airlines continue to take UGE will provide airport ground CONFIDENCE
measures to reduce their operating costs, handling services – including cus- Established ground handlers are also
which usually leads to the outsourcing tomer service, station operations, and prospering as airlines and airports
of many ground handling services. FSS ramp and cargo services – to United’s handle increasing volumes of passengers
is also growing as a company and we domestic system. It began services this and freight. Phelan at Swissport
are prepared and anticipate growth of autumn and will also provide ground says: “As the largest ground handling
approximately 15-16% each year in the handling for United’s new flights to company in the US, we have to make
years to come. and from Kalamazoo, Michigan, start- investments every year with ground
“Airlines continue to outsource ing in December. service equipment, front line employee
ground handling services in order to re- training, and leadership training for
duce their operating costs and be more TALENT our management staff. We are planning
profitable as an airline. This trend will New launches might cause an issue if the to further increase our investments in
continue and possibly even increase ex- talent pool of trained and experienced these areas for 2016 as we believe it will
tensively as airlines continue to evaluate staff cannot expand. Phelan says: give us a competitive advantage.”
and make changes internally.” “We are recognised as a global player During the summer, Worldwide
For ground handling companies, with growth and career advancement Flight Services (WFS) was awarded a
this optimism translates into signifi- opportunities, which gives us a unique three-year ground handling contract by
cant demand for their services, which advantage in recruiting talent. Our HR Allegiant Air to handle 7,400 flights a
encouraged takeovers and new launch- offices are continuously hiring in our year at McCarran International Airport
es this year. markets as we provide and offer multiple in Las Vegas.
12 Airline Ground Services Winter 2015/Spring 2016 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.comFEATURE | UNITED STATES
Under the terms of the contract,
WFS will provide passenger and ramp
services for the airline’s MD80, Airbus
A319/A320 and Boeing 757 flights. The
new contract began in June.
WFS is recruiting 180 new staff to
support the contract in Las Vegas, the
home of Allegiant Air and one of its big- h5IFDPOlEFODF
gest markets in North America. In total, Allegiant Air has in WFS
WFS is now Allegiant Air’s preferred is a testament to the
ground handling provider at 20 cities whole WFS Allegiant
in the US, reinforcing its position as the management team and
airline’s largest service partner. our station managers in
Claudine Bonthoux, executive vice North America”
president North America at WFS, says: Claudine Bonthoux
“The confidence Allegiant Air has in
WFS is a testament to the whole WFS
Allegiant management team and our in the US Virgin Islands, there were new Air Lines at Henry E Rohlsen Airport in
station managers in North America. contracts with Aer Lingus at Washing- the US Virgin Islands, Etihad Airways in
We are proud to have won such a ma- ton Dulles International Airport for the Dallas, and Porter Airlines at Burlington
jor new contract and look forward to provision of cargo handling, passenger International Airport.
repaying the airline’s trust in us by de- and ramp services while, in March, WFS
livering the high quality of service they began work on a new passenger and FIGHT FOR 15
expect from WFS at one of their major cargo handling contract with Philippine At a time of resurgent air travel, la-
airport gateways.” Airlines at New York JFK. bour unrest in the sector is growing.
WFS also picked up a range of new Contracts also flowed in for Air Chi- Thousands of passenger service per-
ground handling contracts during the na in Washington Dulles, Allegiant Air sonnel, security and cleaning staff at
year. As well as covering passenger and at a new station in Asheville and in Pitts- Chicago O’Hare International airport
ramp handling at Saint Thomas Island burgh, Azerbaijan Airlines in New York have joined the nationwide ‘Fight for
and passenger handling at Saint Croix JFK, La Compagnie in Newark, Delta 15’ campaign, according to the Service
GLOBAL
SERVICES
145 4 14 000 750 50 300
locations million tons of employees million Euros million pax airline customers
cargo per annum revenue
WFS : Quality handling solutions
on four continents
The world leader, WFS serves airline customers and
freight forwarders with flexible, responsive and secure
cargo handling at airports around the globe.
Follow us on
The WFS full-solution approach to baggage handling
helps airport authorities and airlines operate more effi-
ciently while increasing passenger satisfaction. @wfs.worldwideflightservices
The WFS track record for efficient and on-time ramp
www.wfs.aero
services is among the industry’s strongest.
www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Winter 2015/Spring 2016 Airline Ground Services 13FEATURE | UNITED STATES
Æ
Employees International Union (SEIU). The union claims that nationwide it COMPETITION
Workers at major origin and destination has won a union voice for 15,000 airport There is a great deal of competition in the
airports including Seattle, Portland, Los workers and has already secured wage United States vendor services industry;
Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, increases and other job improvements indeed, it is one of the biggest barriers to
New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, for more than 45,000 airport workers in entering a new airport location.
Fort Lauderdale and Washington, DC the US. Dunn says: “It is difficult to be com-
have been coming together in the Fight As an employer, it falls to Swissport petitive when a ground handler is look-
for 15 movement to demand a minimum to pay any enhanced wages enjoyed by ing to enter a new location and com-
US$15 hourly wage and union rights. staff. Swissport welcomes the levelling peting against vendors who are already
The SEIU claims that in some cas- of the playing field in terms of wages in on the field or located in that specific
es staff at Chicago O’Hare, the third- the industry. airport and providing services. In or-
busiest airport in the US and a hub for Phelan says: “More major mar- der to begin services at a new airport,
both United and American Airlines, are kets are putting living wage ordinances FSS would need to source office space
being paid below the minimum wage, (LWOs) in place and this trend will con- within the airport, which can be very
forcing them to rely on taxpayer-funded tinue. In 2015 alone, eight major mar- costly, a general manager and leader-
public assistance. In July, the minimum kets in the US have approved a Living ship team, permits if applicable and a
wage for Chicago workers jumped to Wage Ordinance, with more planned brand new workforce. There is a lot of
$10 an hour in what the city says is first for 2016. In the end this creates a level time, money and effort that goes into
wage increase for city workers since playing field for most handlers when it any start-up operation, especially for a
2010. Next year, the minimum wage comes to entry level costs for employees. new airport location.”
will increase to $10.50 in Chicago and “For airports around the country to The FSS’ business model is to begin
will continue to go up in increments to compete with hotels and restaurants for services at an airport with a very strong
$13 an hour by 2019. labour a Living Wage Ordinance pro- leader and then build a business around
At the other end of the country, vides an opportunity to ensure the right that leader.
in September airport workers at Fort talent is in place to reduce turnover and “It has proven to be a very effective
Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport (FLL) improve overall service levels.” business model for us,” Dunn considers.
took industrial action against repeat la- FSS escaped any labour unrest over “Once we have a presence in the airport
bour violations by airline contractors G2 the Fight for 15 campaign, Dunn notes. and start building relationships, we can
Secure Staff and Eulen America. Both She says: “The actual strikes have not slowly start adding on pieces of business
companies, which service Spirit, South- directly affected FSS or any of our con- and new contracts.”
west, American Airlines, JetBlue and tracts. For example, FSS has a very large FSS is now providing full above and
others, came under federal investigation presence at Boston Logan International below wing ground handling for Alaska
by the National Labor Relations Board Airport, yet there were no FSS employ- Airlines at Charleston International
(NLRB) for violating workers’ rights, ees involved in the strikes that have oc- Airport (CHS) in Charleston, South
says the SEIU. curred at BOS Airport over the past year. Carolina. Alaska Air began their non-
Baggage handlers, cabin cleaners “However, we were well prepared stop route from Seattle to Charleston on
and others earn an average of $8.14 an and proactive, just in case; we had over- November 16. Charleston is the seventh
hour with no meaningful benefits and staffed the operation for the particular new city added this year by the Alaska-
are excluded from Broward County’s day(s) of the strike(s). All of our employ- based carrier.
$13.20 Living Wage Ordinance. Some ees showed up and clocked in for work At CHS they also service JetBlue Air-
29% of workers at FLL must rely on as scheduled, which we were very proud ways, Silver Airways, Delta Air Lines and
some government assistance, including of. We also worked very closely with American Airlines. The Alaska Airlines
food stamps or housing assistance, says our business partners and made sure contract is FSS’ eighth ground handing
the union. to over-communicate with them during contract win in 2015 and the second full
these time periods.” ground handling addition at CHS dur-
ing this year.
FSS above and below wing team members working
the Silver Airways operation at CHS
14 Airline Ground Services Winter 2015/Spring 2016 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.comHow do you satisfy millions of appetites at 30,000 feet?
Go straight to the source.
We want to give your customers a fresh perspective on air travel.
Which is why we seek out the highest-quality ingredients to create
inspiring international cuisine.
Ground handling · Cargo · Catering · Travel
Our brand portfolio includes:FEATURE | CATERING
COOKING UP
COMPETITION
*OmJHIUDBUFSJOHJTEPNJOBUFECZUXPHJBOUT-4(4LZ$IFGT XIJDIQSPWJEFTNJMMJPONFBMT
BZFBSGPSBJSMJOFTBOE(BUF(PVSNFU XIJDITVQQMJFTNJMMJPONFBMTBZFBSBUBSPVOE
BJSQPSUT$BOTNBMMFSPQFSBUPSTHFUBTMJDFPGUIFQJF David SmithMPPLTJOUPUIFLJUDIFO
A
number of smaller com- France-based Newrest, which has difficult market for political reasons and
panies are managing to expanded at a frantic pace since it the supply of raw materials can be an
compete with the majors started operations as a global catering issue. So many caterers are put off. But
and carve out niches in the company in 2005. The Newrest in- we’ve seized the opportunities and moved
in-flight catering market. flight network has 75 production units into Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and other
These competitors use a variety of strate- and 23 logistics centres in 30 countries, African countries. It’s a similar story
gies to achieve their aims as there is no mainly in Africa, Europe, Latin America in Latin America, another of our core
single solution. and Canada. It caters daily to 1,550 markets, where we have been opening
One of the most successful of the flights, delivering about 430,000 meals. kitchens in Chile, Peru and Bolivia. What
smaller in-flight caterers is Toulouse, Finding a way to compete with LSG Sky we offer is a more tailor-made relationship
Chefs and Gate Gourmet has driven than the one the airlines might have with
Newrest’s swift growth. the larger in-flight caterers.”
Pierre Brugère, vice president A similar strategy was behind the
commercial and marketing, decision to open a Newrest kitchen in
said: “To compete in the global Canada five years ago. Newrest received
market, we tend to target a request from two airlines it worked
airports where at least one of with elsewhere in the world to open a
the two major players is not kitchen in Montreal. At the time there
present. Africa, one of our core was a solitary catering competitor at the
markets, is a good example. airport and so market conditions were
Gate Gourmet is almost favourable. Having established itself in
nowhere in Africa which Montreal, Newrest has a full kitchen,
means that in the English- catering to all its major customers,
speaking African nations, LSG including Qatar Airways, Air Algérie,
is the only strong competitor. Royal Air Maroc and the Canadian low-
When there’s such a monopoly budget airline, Jazz.
it provides opportunities for “We were testing the Canadian
Newrest. It’s a similar scenario market in Montreal and six months after
in the French-speaking African we moved there we opened in Calgary,”
countries where Servair is pretty said Brugère. “We recently opened a
much the only competitor. kitchen in Toronto and we’re applying for
“Africa is also a relatively a licence to operate in Vancouver. If we
are at the four major Canadian airports,
Newrest Pierre Brugère: target airports it will give us ‘network advantages’. This
where at least one of the major two major means that if an airline launches a tender
players is absent
for multi-stations in Canada we can
16 Airline Ground Services Winter 2015/Spring 2016 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.comFEATURE | CATERING
compete at the same level as any other We helped find solutions at these airports a much larger business. To date, Air
caterer. If you are not at all stations it and the business grew,” he said. Fayre has concentrated on building up
can put you in a weak position. This is a Brugère says that despite the its core business in Los Angeles using its
trend in airline catering and you even get expansions in the company’s profile, it is unique patented model, which is totally
tenders for multiple countries now, which run in the same spirit as when it began different to the way Gate Gourmet and
can be a mixed blessing if one station in 2005. “We started as a small company LSG Sky Chefs run their operations.
performs so poorly that it places you in a with 90% of the shares belonging to the “In 2008, we were the first entrant into
lot of trouble.” managers and that’s a big difference with the US catering market in 30 years and
In Europe, an opportunity for companies like Gate Gourmet. We don’t we put into place our patented product
Newrest arose when LSG Sky Chefs belong to anyone and certainly not an placement process, which has become
bought out the Gate Gourmet flight airline. We are a neutral player. That has known as the ‘Air Fayre’ model,” said
catering operations at Brussels Airport allowed us to keep our original DNA as a Yapp. “We put the food on the airplanes
in Belgium in 2013. “The removal of small catering company growing fast, but but we don’t cook it. When we started out
one of the two majors meant there was in a very entrepreneurial spirit.” in the US, many people predicted failure
a monopoly at quite a large airport so especially since the world had just had
there was space for competition,” said PATENTED PROCESS an economic heart attack and we initially
Brugère. “We moved in to Brussels nine While Newrest has avoided opening limped on for 12 months
months ago. We’ve already got a couple kitchens in the US, British in-flight as finance was pulled.
of customers and in early November we catering company Air Fayre has
signed a major account with the Belgian taken an entirely different approach.
airline Jetairfly, which has one of the Chairman Stephen Yapp sees great
largest leisure fleets in Europe.” potential for growth in the $2
Newrest has operations in Spain, billion US market and
France, the UK and the Benelux, but not has plans to build
in Germany – nor at London Heathrow.
“The markets in those locations are
split between two, three, or even four
competitors. It’s difficult to enter and the
margins are low,” Brugère pointed out.
In the UK, business has developed
organically at smaller airports. Newrest ne
lig
began with a niche opportunity at Ma
ic
der
London City Airport with the low-cost ©
Fre
operators Flybe and BMI. “Then they
said, ‘maybe you can help us out in
Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham’.
www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Winter 2015/Spring 2016 Airline Ground Services 17'&"563&] CATERING
Æ
a cautious approach to acquisitions and
%06#-&61'03*/$3&"4&%$"1"$*5: intends to grow organically first.
DHL has launched A Double Decker High-Loader vehicle, which it claims is a
-0$"-$)&'4
new “concept in airline catering vehicles”. The vehicle design brings a 70%
increase in capacity over traditional high-loaders with no increase in overall Meanwhile, Dubai-based dnata Catering
dimensions on the road. offers yet another business model. The
company’s catering division serves
With customers increasingly requiring long haul catering service sup- customers at 63 airports in 14 countries
QPSU %)-TFUBCPVUPQUJNJTJOHFGlDJFODZUISPVHIPVUUIFMPOHIBVMTVQQMZ and has mainly grown by acquisitions.
chain. A key objective was to increase the capacity of the High-Loader while One of the keys to dnata’s success is
complying with global operating standards which set restrictions on height, its devolved model. The company
length and width. maintains a small team of 10 people at
Working with High-Loader specialist Mallaghan Engineering, DHL devised headquarters in Dubai, responsible for
a new design which meets all current length, height and width restrictions the overall strategy globally, but gives
in transit, but whose roof rises during loading and unloading to provide op- the local teams at its bases in Singapore,
erators with a safe working height of 1.8m. The design is predicted to cut South Africa, Europe, the Middle East
operating costs by around 20%. and Australia a lot of freedom to run
operations as they see fit.
“Because we are not overbearing our
local units can be much more locally
orientated with customers,” said David
Loft, chief commercial officer. “For ex-
ample, we pride ourselves on employing
local chefs with regional culinary exper-
tise, including Halal, Indian, Japanese
and Chinese cuisines. For Asian airlines,
in particular, the authenticity of the food
makes a big difference.
“In Australia, for instance, we’ve
done a lot of work with our Chinese
customers as we’ve really invested a
lot of money in that market. We have
customer service teams that are fluent
in Chinese and several chefs specialising
in Chinese cuisine. The strategy has
But since then we have done well. We “We’ve found over the years that worked well for us.”
started with 60 flights a day and we now small, quite classy restaurants have seen The flexibility in dnata’s model
have more than 140, making us one of the the business opportunities in using the extends to its relationships with
premier caterers in the LA area.” latent capacity of their kitchens during individual airlines. The company builds
Air Fayre is one branch of the Journey the day. It’s a financially efficient model bespoke arrangements with each one.
Group. The company sold off most of that has reduced the food costs of our Loft says dnata often has greater room
its in-flight catering operations in the main customer, United Airlines, and for manoeuvre than the largest in-
UK, although it retains the Watermark other airlines, by 5-6%,” said Yapp. flight catering companies. “There are
business, which supplies in-flight In addition to United, Air Fayre similarities in our approach to different
products such as the goody bags handed provides catering in LA for United airlines, but there’s no set pattern. In
out by Virgin. Airlines, JetBlue, FedEx and North some cases, we receive goods, process
Air Fayre owns the patent on its American. Yapp believes these airlines them, pack them and load them onto
process in the US until 2022, giving it will supply opportunities for expansion airplanes. Other times we buy products,
time to steal a march on its competitors. elsewhere in the US. But he maintains transfer them onto trolleys and load
The Air Fayre method has several
advantages over the usual business
models, Yapp argues. Traditional in-
flight caterers have to cook thousands
of starters, main meals and desserts
in large expensive kitchens on airport
property. Their margins are low and their
businesses are asset-heavy. They require
a lot of ongoing investment. In contrast,
Air Fayre’s model is asset-light, although
the company has invested in refrigerated
trucks and chilled warehouses. It can
also ‘shop around’ for the best deals at
food suppliers, high-end restaurants and
hotels. Logistical operations take place
around 10 miles away from the airport,
which means the premises are cheaper.
"JSMJOF(SPVOE4FSWJDFT8JOUFS4QSJOH XXXBHTBJSMJOFHSPVOETFSWJDFTDPNFEATURE | CATERING
them. Then, on other occasions, we buy with Continental Airlines. It is the only
fresh fruit and vegetables and have to airline-owned catering company in the
peel, cook, process, pack, chill and load. US. Chelsea operates six flight kitchens in
All airlines have specific requirements for five cities – Cleveland, Denver, Honolulu,
what they want to spend and load and Houston and Newark, where it has two
even how they want the meals packed kitchens. Although United forms the core
into the galleys,” said Loft. of its business, Chelsea provides catering
dnata also operates joint ventures services for more than 20 airlines, includ-
with a number of competitors, including ing Air France, American Airlines, KLM,
LSG Sky Chefs, Gate Gourmet, and China Airlines and Singapore Airlines,
Newrest. In the UK, for example, and employs around 2,500 workers.
the joint venture Alpha LSG is run Jimmy Samartzis, vice president
by a separate management company food services and United Clubs, said:
reporting to a joint board. Although “Operating our own catering company
based in the Middle East, dnata’s food enables United Airlines to be more flexible
Chelsea Food Service Jimmy Samartzis:
services division has only two units in the easily control costs and hire the when it comes to changing our products
region -–one in Sharjah and the other in best employees and services. We can also more easily
Jordan. Loft says being headquartered in control costs and hire the best employees.
Dubai does not provide much of a local larger US market has remained mostly In addition, we have greater influence on
advantage. “The devolved model means out of bounds despite dnata’s wish to ex- the products we offer, in part because we
we effectively have a ‘local’ presence in pand its catering operations. “So far we have the ability to test menu concepts and
many countries around the world. We only have one base at the small Orlando new equipment in our kitchens prior to
have to tender for work in the Middle Sanford airport. If the right opportu- on-board implementation.”
East like any other company,” he said. nity arose we’d consider it, but the US is There are occasions, however, when
Italy has become one of dnata’s not somewhere we’d like to speculate by United employs other caterers rather
strongest bases in Europe. The purchase building new units because it’s already than Chelsea. “Opening a Chelsea kitchen
of Alpha in 2010 brought with it joint quite a saturated market,” said Loft. is a strategic decision based on whether
ventures with a company called Air Chef United will have the advantage over an
which was present all over Italy. As a re- STRATEGIC DECISION outside catering service when it comes to
sult, dnata provides catering at 22 Italian Chelsea Food Services is the in-flight cost, performance expectations, outside
locations, many of them on a small scale catering wing of United Airlines, which business opportunities and supply chain
with low costs. By contrast, the much was inherited from the 2010 merger challenges,” he said.
BidAir
Safe, Reliable Service
SOUTH AFRICA
When Handling is
important to you! t$BSHP)BOEMJOH
t1BTTFOHFS)BOEMJOH
t3BNQ)BOEMJOH
t"JSDSBGU(SPPNJOH
t&YFDVUJWF$PODJFSHF
t0VUTPVSDFE$BSHP
t)PTQJUBMJUZ
Providing quality ground handling services to more than 20
PROUDLY airlines operating 17 000 flights a month.
5FM 'BY
NBSLFUJOH!CJEBJSDP[BXXXCJEBJSDP[B
www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Winter 2015/Spring 2016 Airline Ground Services 19FEATURE | FRAPORT
GREEN
INITIATIVES ON VIEW
AT FRANKFURT
Being green is not enough – initiatives must be visible
to passengers to avoid charges of greenwashing
M
anagers at Frankfurt information panels and animations. such as towing vehicles, ground support
airport are not content Equipment includes solar-powered pas- equipment or pallet trucks. We want the
with simply ‘greening’ the senger airstairs, electric conveyor belt proportion of special electric vehicles
apron: they have decided vehicles, hybrid aircraft tugs and electric used here on-site to further increase.”
to inform passengers at pallet trucks.
one of the busiest airports in the world As a first step E-PORT AN is con- MILLIONS OF EUROS
of services that can largely be carried out solidating the 20 or so different vehi- Norbert Barthle, Parliamentary State
with electric vehicles. cles that are used to service an aircraft Secretary at the Federal Ministry of
The E-PORT AN initiative cov- and integrating new electrically driven Transport and Digital Infrastructure
ers electro-mobility projects at Frank- developments into the aircraft servic- adds: “The use of electric vehicles
furt Airport (FRA). For a number of ing process. Emissions and noise are re- in aircraft servicing and rolling and
years, conventional diesel engine vehi- duced at the airport, improving both the towing traffic can substantially reduce
cles have been replaced by electrically environmental footprint and working noise and emissions at airports. This
powered vehicles. The federal govern- conditions on the apron, says Dr Stefan protects the environment and the staff
ment has recognised this initiative as Schulte, CEO of Fraport, who notes that on the ground. As part of the Rhine-
a ‘Lighthouse’ (Leuchtturm) project. the effect of the large-scale use of elec- Main model electro-mobility region,
E-PORT AN is funded by the German tric vehicles on the airport’s power grid the Federal Ministry of Transport and
Federal Ministry of Transport and Digi- is also being studied. Digital Infrastructure is funding the
tal Infrastructur. Schulte says: “In addition to the en- E-PORT AN project with a total of eight
At Lufthansa Gate A15, passengers ergy optimisation of the terminal, the million euros. I am delighted that from
can now find about the range of electric use of electric vehicles at the airport is today passengers on the spot can inform
mobility projects at Germany’s largest an essential starting point for us to re- themselves about this ‘green ground
airport. The ‘Green Gate’ presents those duce CO2 emissions. Electrically pow- service’. Simultaneously incentives for
aircraft ground services which in the ered vehicles are principally ideal for imitation are created, because the added
future can be largely carried out with use at airports with, as here is the case, value of electro-mobile aircraft servicing
electric vehicles. The partners involved short-haul traffic. This is especially true for the future is obvious.”
present their activities using models, for special vehicles for aircraft servicing, In October, Fraport expanded its
20 Airline Ground Services Winter 2015/Spring 2016 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.comFEATURE | FRAPORT
BE ON
GUARD
The ease with which passengers can travel by air around
the world can be exploited by germs and diseases. This
DBOUVSODBCJODMFBOFSTJOUPUIFlSTUMJOFPGEFGFODF
I
n apron turnarounds, cleaning the passenger cabin, cockpit, galley and
toilet areas is quick and often superficial. The removal of crumpled
newspapers, magazines, blankets, headphones and the other detritus
of the travelling public can take all the time allotted to cleaning.
fleet of electric-powered vehicles at Surprisingly there are no guidelines set by IATA or ICAO for
the company’s home base with the ad- cleaning or disinfecting aircraft. Airlines tend to do only what they are
dition of 10 more electric cars, as well forced to do by regulation.
as a prototype container-transport ve- Bacoban, an antibacterial surface protection manufacturer, has
hicle to be used in ground handling developed a new brand, Virus Guard, specifically to help cleansing of the
operations for carrying baggage to and passenger cabin, according to Alex Sahni, CEO of Virus Guard.
from the aircraft. He says: “It has been designed to protect air crew as well as passengers.
The container-transport vehicle Virus Guard is the only water-based product on the market with 10-day
from Mulag is equipped with twin 80 effectiveness. Aircraft are never disinfected and Virus Guard provides a
volt lead-acid batteries serving as the cheap solution to clean galleys, galley tops, ovens, lavatories and lavatory
power source for the vehicle’s two elec- door handles, and also to be used by ground cleaning staff for cleaning
tric motors. The prototype has a load ca- aircraft, instead of stain removing chemicals.”
pacity of seven tons and can reach a top
speed of 25km/hr. First reviews in day- 10-DAY PROTECTION
to-day operations have already shown Virus Guard is supplied as a liquid or in wet wipes. The chemical is made in
an energy saving of 80 percent versus Germany and the wet wipes are made in Istanbul.
a comparable diesel-powered vehicle – Sahni says: “We are targeting ground handlers as well as airlines as our
thereby reducing emissions on the apron product has been approved for use on Airbus and Boeing aircraft. We supply
and contributing to Fraport’s overall car- directly to ground handlers and airlines. Our existing clients are Air Arabia,
bon-reduction efforts at FRA. Sharjah Aviation Services and Flynas Airline from Saudi Arabia.
Powered by electric batteries only, “Our pricing is cheaper than normal wipes; a pack of 20 wipes is $1
the 10 passenger cars from Mitsubishi while a pack of 50 wipes is $1.50. For the chemical, we have 500ml ready-
provide a maximum speed of 130km/hr to-use spray at $5 while a 5l dilute to use is $30 per litre, which makes
and a range of 150 km. Fraport’s ground 500l ready to use. A litre would cost a ground handler $3.30 and is enough
handling unit uses these cars for service for cleaning an A320 or B737 aircraft.”
performance of aircraft handling activi- There are many disinfecting products in the market but Sahni is unaware
ties at Frankfurt Airport. of any other products which offer 10-day protection.
www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Winter 2015/Spring 2016 Airline Ground Services 21You can also read
