Aircraft ground handling
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In aviation, aircraft ground handling or ground operations defines the servicing of an aircraft while it is on the ground and (usually) parked at a terminal gate of an airport.
Overview
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Many airlines subcontract ground handling to airports, handling agents or even to another airline. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), conservative estimates indicate airlines outsource more than 50 per cent of the ground handling that takes place at the world's airports.[1] Ground handling addresses the many service requirements of an airliner between the time it arrives at a terminal gate and the time it departs on its next flight. Speed, efficiency, and accuracy are important in ground handling services in order to minimize the turnaround time (the time during which the aircraft must remain parked at the gate).[2] Faster turnarounds for lower ground times are correlated to better profits.[3]
Airlines with less-frequent service or fewer resources at a particular location sometimes subcontract ground handling or on-call aircraft maintenance to another airline, as it is a short-term cheaper alternative to setting up its own ground handling or maintenance capabilities.
Credit: Marius Vassnes
Airlines may participate in an industry-standard Mutual Assistance Ground Service Agreement (MAGSA). The MAGSA is published by the Air Transport Association (the current version is from 1981) and is used by airlines to assess prices for maintenance and support to aircraft at so-called MAGSA Rates, which are updated annually based on changes in the U.S. Producer Price Index.[citation needed] Airlines may choose to contract for ground handling services under the terms of a Standard Ground Handling Agreement (SGHA) published in the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Airport Handling Manual.[4] Airlines may also contract for ground handling services under non-standard terms.
Most ground services are not directly related to the actual flying of the aircraft, and instead involve other tasks. The major categories of ground handling services are described below.
Aircraft Appearance and Provisioning
[edit]Services related to aircraft cleanliness and passenger comfort:
- Cabin cleaning – cleaning seats, galleys, and lavatories. Resetting the cabin (folding seatbelts, uniform seat and window shade position) to appear untouched.
- Lavatory service – exterior service of lavatory by draining and filling of waste tanks.
- Provisioning – replacing literature, blankets, pillows, and consumable supplies.
- Security search – searching aircraft for prohibited items as required by airline policy or regulatory requirement.
- Water service – exterior service of aircraft water system by filling tank with potable water for use inflight.
Catering
[edit]Catering includes the unloading of unused food and drink from the aircraft, and the loading of fresh food and drink for passengers and crew. In flight airline meals are delivered at the seats in airline service trolleys. Empty or trash-filled trolley from the previous flight are replaced with fresh ones. Meals are prepared mostly on the ground in order to minimize the amount of preparation (apart from chilling or reheating) required in flight.
While some airlines provide their own catering, others have either owned catering companies in the past and divested themselves of the companies, or have outsourced their catering to third-party companies. Airline catering sources include the following companies:
- Airline Services & Logistics PLC(EPZE)
- Atlas Catering (Royal Air Maroc)
- Cara Operations
- Cathay Pacific Catering Services (Cathay Pacific)
- DHL Supply Chain
- Gate Gourmet
- KLM Catering Services (KLM)
- LSG Sky Chefs
- Sky Cafe’
- Q Catering (Qantas)
- SATS Food
- Servair
- Thai Catering Services (Thai Airways)
Ramp service
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This includes services on the ramp or apron, such as:
- Guiding the aircraft into and out of the parking position (by way of aircraft marshalling),
- Towing with pushback tractors
- Pre-Conditioned Air and Heating
- Airstart units (for starting engines)
- Luggage handling, usually by means of beltloaders and baggage carts
- Gate checked luggage, often handled on the tarmac as passengers disembark
- Air cargo handling, usually by means of cargo dollies and cargo loaders.
- Ground power (so that engines need not be running to provide aircraft power on the ground)
- Passenger stairs (used instead of an aerobridge or airstairs, some budget airlines use both to improve turnaround speed)
- PIGS (Passenger Integrated Guidance System), a retractable barrier, is used to ensure passengers do not walk underneath the wings[5]
- Wheelchair lifts, if required
- Deicing
Passenger service
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This includes services inside the airport terminal such as:
- Providing check-in counter services for the passengers departing on the customer airlines.
- Providing gate arrival and departure services. The agents are required to meet a flight on arrival as well as provide departure services including boarding passengers and closing the flight.
- Staffing the transfer counters, customer service counters and airline lounges.
Field operation service
[edit]This service dispatches the aircraft, maintains communication with the rest of the airline operation at the airport and with Air Traffic Control.
List of notable handling agents
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Asia
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Air India Airport Services Limited – all Indian airports – presently providing services at 74 airports in India
Cathay Pacific
All Nippon Airways
Nepal Airlines – Kathmandu
Pakistan International Airlines
Airmach Aviation
China Airlines Co., Ltd.
Wingspan Services Co., Ltd.
The Caribbean
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Europe
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LGS Handling
- CTT Aviation Ltd.
AIRPRO
Groupe Europe Handling
Goldair
Sky Handling Partner
Airport Handling
HAVAS Ground Handling Co.
Turkish Ground Services
Airline Services
Middle East
[edit]ASE – Egypt Member ASE Group
ASE – UAE Member Of ASE Group
SE – Morocco Member Of ASE Group
Saudi Private Aviation-SPA
Oman Air
BAS (Bahrain Airport Services)
QAS (Qatar Aviation Services)
El Al
North and Central America
[edit]Swissport
Kion de Mexico
Alliance Ground International and subsidiaries
- Airport Terminal Services (ATS)
- Total Airport Services (TAS)
- WFS Express
South America
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Candysur S.A.
Oceania
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See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ International Air Transport Association, Ground Handling, International Air Transport Association, archived from the original on 5 October 2013
- ^ Gomez, F; Scholz, D (2009), Improvements to ground handling operations and their benefits to direct operating costs (PDF), Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2013
- ^ "The correlation between airline ground time and profits". AirInsight. May 8, 2017.
- ^ International Air Transport Association, Airport Handling Manual (AHM), International Air Transport Association, archived from the original on 18 October 2013
- ^ Wignall, Alec (27 November 2022). "How it works: the aircraft turnaround – AeroTime". Aerotime. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
- ^ "FBO, Ground Handling in Singapore (WSSL)". Universal Aviation. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ "Services assistance aéroport: Handling, assistance en escale – Samsic".
- ^ "London Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR)". aa.com.
- ^ "Ryanair Appoints Handler at London Stansted Airport – Ryanair's Corporate Website".
- ^ "Cobalt Ground Solutions".
- ^ "GATWICK GROUND SERVICES LIMITED – Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.
- ^ "Signature BHX | Fixed Base Operator (FBO) at Birmingham Airport". signatureflight.com.
Further reading
[edit]- ISO 9001:2008—Quality management systems
External links
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- International Air Transport Association, IATA Ground Handling Council, International Air Transport Association, archived from the original on 2013-09-27, retrieved 2013-09-25
- Ground Handling International, archived from the original on 2013-10-29