Ground_Support_August_2020 - 26

INTERNATIONAL

stops permitted and with multiple layers of
government approvals required. This was
due to a state of emergency being declared
earlier in the year which has not appeared
to have eased," he says. "While technical
stops were always a strong part of traffic
through PNG, it certainly has reduced
business traffic and the multiple layers of
approvals do slow down the processes when
arranging services."
dnata has been closely monitoring the
pandemic since the outbreak and company
officials have been continuously adapting and updating internal measures and
business continuity plans as the situation
evolves.
"At each location, we work closely with
our partners and authorities to ensure the
highest safety standards for customers and
employees across the operations. dnata
Australia has a 'Pandemic Taskforce' in
place that meets regularly, supported by

internal 'pandemic coordinators' at various
business units to ensure the dissemination
of information and enforcement of protective measures," explains Goovaerts.
Indeed, it is important that ground handlers stay informed and keep the workforce
educated, accordingly.
"Locally, operations have been able to
identify and separate skill sets to minimize the risk of an infection creating a
skills shortage," says Gardner. "There are
resourcing plans in place that allow flexibility, so should restrictions change in
any location, we are able to adjust to the
requirements. The COVID-19 safe workplace plans continue to be followed and will
be updated as information and guidance
from the government, health departments
and our workplace legislative bodies."
According to Nainggolan, until there
is a vaccine the industry must continue
to follow COVID-19 restrictions such as

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26 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE

AUGUST 2020

Made in the U.S.A.

social distancing, hand washing and other
hygienic measures.
"This is the new norm and, until we have
a cure, we need to take every precaution to
keep ourselves safe and keep our clients
safe as well. So, the plan is not to let our
guard down," he says. "The restrictions and
procedures that have been put in place have
not changed a lot since first introduced. For
Australia, we continue to take the threat
of spread seriously and these procedures
were introduced for the long term. For general aviation, almost every flight will have
a different and possibly new challenging
component. For ground handlers in this
sector, it is always important to be flexible
and proactive in making the delivery to
clients as seamless as possible."
The benefit for those who are in the
general aviation (GA) sector is that GA
does provide an upper hand when having
to work outside of the box.
"While the shocking decline in traffic
was certainly difficult, it is simply another
way we need to meet the customers' needs,
from a new angle," says Nainggolan.
"Ground handlers need to continue to be
flexible and inventive in this challenging time and those that may arise in the
future."

Looking to the Future
While it has been in many ways dramatic,
the COVID-19 shock has generated a
learning experience and it has served as a
reminder that we are tightly coupled.
"Things can affect us even if they happen on the other side of the world. By
adhering to safety standards and recom-
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Ground_Support_August_2020

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