EXPLORING GSE, AIRFIELD EQUIPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE | AUTUMN 2016 | WWW.AIRSIDEINT.COM 25th - 27th APRIL 2017, MILAN The rights and wrongs of pooling GSE have long been a controversial topic for 22 discussion, but the idea is now starting to become a reality at some major gateways PEGASUS Handling change DIVING IN at Turkish carrier 36 TREPEL All systems go for German supplier’ ne of the pioneers in the effort to introduce airport GSE pooling has 41 IAEMA been the UK’s biggest and busiest O air gateway, London Heathrow In- Vegas: set to be ternational Airport. And leading the efforts of Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) in this area bigger and better has been Nick Platts, now the airport opera- tor’s head of cargo but – for the three and a half years leading up to May 2015 – its head of ground handling. It was in this latter role that Platts joined the airport in January 2012 and one of his fi rst decisions was to take a strategic view of what the optimum ground handling environment at the airport might look like. He talked to the INTERAIRPORT CHINA, 12-17 SEPTEMBER, Peking $WDQ\DLUSRUWHIĺFLHQF\DQGUHOLDELOLW\DUHZKDWFRXQW7KHVHWZRIDFWRUV UHFHLYHPD[LPXPDWWHQWLRQLQWKHGHVLJQDQGHQJLQHHULQJRIDOO*ROGKRIHU INTERNATIONAL DQG6FKRSIDLUFUDIWWRZLQJWUDFWRUV$PLQLPXPPDLQWHQDQFHUHTXLUHPHQW AIRPORT GSE EXPO 18-20 OCTOBER 2016, LV WKH NH\ WR PD[LPXP DYDLODELOLW\ DQG UREXVW HQJLQHHULQJ WKH JXDUDQ LAS VEGAS, NEVADA WHHIRUORQJVHUYLFHOLIH&KRRVHDWRZWUDFWRUIURPWKH*ROGKRIHU*URXS IRUWKHPRVWHFRQRPLFDOVROXWLRQRQWKHPDUNHW $LUFUDIW7RZ7UDFWRUV_&DUJR7RZ7UDFWRUV_$LUFUDIW5HFRYHU\6\VWHPV WWW.GOLDHOFER.DE WWW.SCHOPF-GSE.COM FEATURE | GSE POOLING numerous handlers working at the airport as well as other rel- that that could be achieved by the airport operator anyway, given evant individuals active there and, by December of that year, was UK law on free competition); instead, the key is to have closer able to make four wide-ranging recommendations for improve- management of resources and less equipment on the ramp. “It’s ments that should be made to that environment. Those four rec- not about the number of handlers, it’s how they work together,” ommendations – including one that there be clearer management Platts insists. of ground handling service provision – were universally accepted, Thus, the option of GSE pooling was soon front and centre in and Platts was tasked with delivering on them. his mind. Moreover, some of the handlers were bringing the issue The large number of handlers – nine at that point – operat- of pooling up themselves. Pooling was certainly seen as a viable ing at Heathrow has long been seen by many, if not most, as a option by more than one of those service providers, he recalls. problem – an impediment to efficient operations on the ramp. Those same models run by HAL showed that equipment pool- But Platts is clear on this: he does not agree. The models run by ing could lead to a reduction of GSE on the ramp of some 30-35%, the operator show that decreasing the number of handlers ac- a reduction that could surely have a highly beneficial effect in tive there wouldn’t necessarily improve efficiency or safety (not terms of both improving safety and reducing costs. As a result, MIKE BRYANT Editor elcome to the Autumn 2016 [email protected] issue of Airside International. The big news from the UK this PARVEEN RAJA summer was the result of the Publisher contents national referendum to decide [email protected] Wwhether the country should remain a part of the HARLEY KHAN EU. The result, a surprise to most, to ‘Leave’ is Head of Commercial going to have significant ramifications in many [email protected] areas, and the aviation industry is likely to be 7 Completing the circle one of them. What exactly will be the impact IAN TALBOT Sales Executive on passenger and cargo flows, and consequently [email protected] airport and airline business, is by no means 9 Powering on clear however. YASMIN LYDON Events Coordinator 15 Looking back at the Airside Event [email protected] Meanwhile, the UK Government is yet to decide how it intends to expand airport capacity GEMMA KEEN in the south-east of England, as wrangles over Events Coordinator 22 Pegasus in groundbreaking change the two most likely options — an additional [email protected] runway at London Heathrow or London Gatwick SHOBHANA PATEL — rumble on. 24 Bringing the de-icing world together Head of Finance [email protected] More widely, the aviation industry around the 27 Buyers’ Viewpoint SHELDON PINK word has also been impacted by further terrorist Creative Director attacks on air transport infrastructure. Brussels [email protected] in late March was followed by an attack on 30 Old problems, new solutions Turkey’s Istanbul Ataturk Airport in June, and CHARLOTTE WILLIS Head of Circulation further such atrocities at the world’s airports [email protected] can certainly not be ruled out. It is a very 36 TREPEL plots its course difficult time. We hope you enjoy the issue. 37 Getting the message across Address changes and subscription orders to: [email protected] 41 A date in Vegas ISSN 1755-8697 EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Martin Roebuck, Chris Lewis, Megan Ramsay and David Smith 44 Investing in the future PUBLISHED BY - EVA International Media Ltd Boswell Cottage, 19 South End, Croydon, London, CR0 1BE, UK Tel: + 44 (0) 208 253 4000 - Fax: + 44 (0) 208 603 7369 48 Airside update 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 Issue 35 © 2016 | www.airsideint.com Content may not be reproduced in any format without written permission EDITOR from EVA International Media Ltd MIKE BRYANT | Exploring GSE, airfi eld equipment and infrastructure Turnkey supply of the most advanced hangar door solutions available. INNOVATION in Hangar Doors jewersdoors.co.uk +44 (0)1767 317090 [email protected] 2 AIRSIDE INTERNATIONAL | AUTUMN 2016 WWW.AIRSIDEINT.COM GSE POOLING | FEATURE Ground Handling License, to support the airport’s efforts to streamline operations on the ramp). “The T4 (Terminal 4) community put their hands up, happy to conduct the trials,” Platts says. “And it was the handlers that guided us during the tests.” The handlers suggested that air stairs be the focus of the initial trials, there being less risk of a signifi- cant impact on operations should anything go wrong. The trials of pooled air stairs lasted six weeks, from November 2014 to January 2015. The stairs were provided by TCR, modified to meet the needs of the various handlers involved (TCR was cho- sen from two suppliers who had offered to support the trials). There were a couple of teething problems for handlers unfamiliar with the stairs provided, but nothing significant, Platts reports. Indeed, the criteria of success laid down before the project got underway – that there be no operational delays caused by pooling and that savings be realised, for example – were universally met, he observes. The stairs were equipped with telematics, so they could be tracked, and it was found that the pooled equipment was used efficiently, with utilisation rates improved. Average running costs over time were lower than had been the case previously and no operational delays were caused. Such was the success of the experiment, Platts says, that the handlers involved (all the ground Already the UK’s biggest and busiest towards the latter part of 2013 Platts was recommending a move service providers active at T4 at the time took part) wanted to ex- airport, possible expansion of London to GSE pooling. tend the trial period beyond January. Heathrow could add complications but conceivably make GSE pooling an even more The ground service providers worked well together, while TCR attractive option MOVING FORWARD provided a level of oversight to monitor ongoing performance. The airport operator and airport handlers discussed how this The number of stands covered by the trial also extended as the might take place, as well as involving equipment providers such tests went on, a reflection of the success of the experiment in as Brussels-headquartered equipment supplier TCR. By the end sharing equipment. of 2013, it seemed clear that pooling was something that could The following couple of months were spent digesting the TCR be done and that would have a beneficial effect, Platts remem- figures and feedback on the trials, before Platts could report to bers. Everybody wanted to test the concept before plunging in the pooling steering committee, which includes senior managers headfirst, however, so preparations were made for trials to be- from the Heathrow handlers (a subordinate working group takes gin by the end of that year (a new Ground Operations License, in the technical guys looking at the detail of every challenge). or GOL, was also introduced on 1 April 2014, replacing the old The rest of 2015 allowed some time for consideration of what GLOBAL SOLUTIONS We’re getting bigger and faster to serve you even better. WASP Inc. — manufacturer of the high-quality GSE you’ve used for decades — is now FAST Global Solutions. We grew our team and workspace by 60% last year, and we added $12 million in advanced production equipment throughout 500,000 square feet of workspace. We’re ready to partner with you at high speed. See what else is new at booth 365 during the International Airport GSE Expo Find out how the world’s largest non-powered GSE manufacturer is even bigger… and FASTer! www.FASTsolutions.com // [email protected] // 320-334-2868 WWW.AIRSIDEINT.COM AUTUMN 2016 | AIRSIDE INTERNATIONAL 3 FEATURE | GSE POOLING permanent pooling at Heathrow might involve, and how it might be introduced. A number of ‘work packages’ were created – op- tions for the degree and extent of pooling that could be execut- ed in a phased process of introduction.