may2022 - 10

Business Buzz
NEW DEALS
dnata to Expand Cargo
Operations into Germany
dnata announced an expansion of its
European footprint through the planned
acquisition of Germany-based Wisskirchen
Handling Services.
Wisskirchen is the exclusive operator
of the Cologne Bonn Cargo Centre, a
12,000-square-meter facility at Cologne/
Bonn Airport (CGN) providing a full
range of cargo services via a team of
about 180 highly trained employees.
Wisskirchen handles more than 85,000
tonnes of cargo annually.
" We are delighted to announce
dnata's first cargo investment
in Germany. This is part of our
continued broader investment
in cargo infrastructure. Since
2014, we have invested in nine
new cargo facilities in Europe. We look
forward to playing our role in the next
stage of development of Cologne/Bonn
Airport as a major cargo hub, and I
would like to thank Oliver Hellwig for
his professionalism during this process, "
Stewart Angus, dnata's regional CEO for
Europe, said.
Aerolineas Argentinas
Chooses Orbital for Handling
Contracts in Brazil
Orbital Group has won handling contracts
from Aerolineas Argentinas in São
Paulo, Rio de Janiero and Brasilia.
Majority owned by Worldwide Flight
Services (WFS), Orbital has been awarded
two-year contracts by the airline with
the responsibility of handling about
1,800 flights per annum and serving over
IGHC to Focus on
Overcoming Labor
Shortages and
Improved Ground
Handling Efficiency
W
hen the global airport ground handling
community meets in person
in Paris at the 34th IATA Ground Handling
Conference (IGHC), May 31-June 2,
key among the topics to be discussed will
be accommodating the surging demand
for air travel with shrunken staff levels.
Successful ground operations are
vital to sustaining the industry's recovery.
Unfortunately, after the greatest
downturn in history, aviation is facing
severe labor shortages and challenges
in recruiting and retaining staff. Restoring
thousands of ground services jobs
without the benefit of the " institutional
10 || Ground Support Worldwide || May 2022
210,000 passengers annually. This will
include check-in, lost and found, boarding
and flight arrivals as well as security
services.
Rubens Pereira Leitão Filho, CEO at
Orbital, said, " These three new contracts
emphasize our growing strategic
memory " of those who have permanently
left the industry is a massive challenge.
The scaling up of operations to meet
demand will be facilitated and sustained
by increased compliance with global
standards. A standardized and globally
accepted framework for safe and efficient
ground operations is crucial. Fortunately,
such a document exists: the IATA Ground
Operations Manual (IGOM).
For more than 10 years, the IGOM has
been the standard reference for airlines
and ground service providers (GSPs),
it's regularly updated guidance proving
invaluable in a highly fragmented business
sector. There are hundreds of users
worldwide and the adoption rate is good;
but the ground handling community
needs to accelerate the global adoption
of IGOM to ensure worldwide operational
consistency and safety. To support this,
IATA has launched the IGOM portal, an
partnership with Aerolineas Argentinas,
which has been an important customer
of Orbital for many years. We can support
their requirements due to our strong
presence at these major airport gateways
in Brazil and the respected ground handling
skills of our local teams. We hope
this will also lead to more opportunities
to serve Aerolineas Argentinas and its
customers at more airports across WFS'
global network. "
online platform where
airlines and ground
handlers can share the
results of their gap analysis
between company
procedures and IGOM.
Overlaying the IGOM is the IATA
Safety Audit for Ground Operations
(ISAGO), which is an industry global
standard for the oversight and audit of
GSPs. It encompasses and provides an
independent assessment of all aspects
of managing and providing safe ground
handling services. IATA is urging governments
to recognize ISAGO in their regulatory
frameworks for oversight. This
will deliver significant benefits, including
greater harmonization, Safety Management
System (SMS) implementation by
the ground handlers and reduction of
wasteful duplicative audits that providers
must often undergo.
may2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of may2022
