Ground_Support_August_2020 - 25

INTERNATIONAL

Derek O'Reilly, general manager of Universal Aviation Australia observes that the
threat of spread in Australia was detected
early and government authorities were proactive in placing procedures in place for
airline operations.
"Most Australian airports of entry
employ the same measures when clearing
inbound/outbound flights to keep ramp
activity for business aviation a sterile environment," he says. "Most clearances, with
the exception of medical flights, are cleared
through the main terminals where infrastructure has been put in place to detect
potential carriers. This infrastructure does
extend to the ramp itself where flights are
always met by officials from the Department of Health."
This procedure has been effective, and it
has also shown a strong sense of continuity between all ports where there had been
differences before the pandemic, according
to O'Reilly.
"In Sydney, specifically, our office is
located on the general aviation ramp, operating out of a third-party handler's facility. As per government regulations, social
distancing (1.5m rule) has been employed,
hand sanitization and also reduction of
staff is in daily effect. The level of customer
service remains the same, with differences
only in the use of the FBO facilities as they
have reduced the passing of passengers and
crew through the lounge where possible,"
he says.

Managing Risk in the Ramp
Environment
Based on Swissport's risk review and by
taking government advice, it appears that
the likelihood of transmission is decreased
in an open-air environment, particularly
when physical distancing and good hygiene
practices are observed.
"For the instances when one of the controls is unable to be met, for example: the
exchange of verbal communication between
workers, the risk remains low due to the
relatively short close contact time as well
as the open-air environment," says Gardner. "Our approach is to try to maintain
physical distancing as much as possible and
we can still achieve this for the majority
of the time when operating in the body

aircraft. During the loading or unloading
when physical distancing cannot be maintained, again the relatively short time is an
advantage, and we have also made other
PPE available."
For ground handling companies, it is a
sound practice not to differentiate between
indoors or outdoors in order not to create
a false sense of security whereby people
become complacent.
"Inside and outside, we need to be very
COVID-19 conscious when entering,
touching and protecting ourselves from
possible contamination," says James Nainggolan, Asia Pacific regional safety manager
at Universal Aviation.
"Whether they operate in the open air
or indoors, we provide the same support to
our employees to ensure the highest possible level of safety," adds Goovaerts. "In
addition to supplying our staff with PPE,
we regularly disinfect our ground support
equipment, use the latest technology and
engage our service providers to minimize
touchpoints. We also support our airline
customers in adapting their operations to
the new normal by delivering innovative
services for them."

Plans for Ground Handlers
In Australasia, domestic business has
increased slightly with the easing of border
restrictions and some sense of normality

is beginning. However, it appears it will
be some time before business is back to
"normal."
The exemption for international crew
from quarantine restrictions has also
allowed some traffic to operate, according
to O'Reilly.
"Papua New Guinea (PNG), one of
the ports we coordinate, has had a much
stricter stance on flights with only tech-

AUGUST 2020

AviationPros.com

25
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