20 WORLD ANALYSIS
GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL FEBRUARY 2013
Africa and the Middle East
It’s been a challenge for most, according to respondents this time around.
e start our annual review with Africa, and Jean-Michel Schweitzer, who is MD at
Handling Partner Gabon. He relates that 2012 was a good
year, even though he lost two airlines (Air Mali, through confl ict in its own country) and Air Nigeria (because of problems with its Civil Aviation Authority and internal staff). “Other airlines modifi ed their schedules
to fi ll the gaps, such as ASKY, Air Burkina and Senegal Airlines. A new customer arrived in December, Air Côte d’Ivoire, and one other scheduled at the end of the year was Westair Benin. Turkish has announced plans for the end of January 2013 but we shall wait and see. “For 2013, investments are scheduled: two sets of secondhand stairs, fi ve baggage trailers and some towbars for Dash8-400 and ERJ170/190 are all anticipated. We will be ISAGO certifi ed and in fact are only awaiting the documentation from IATA. Finally, in terms of passengers, Libreville has been showing a little increase but this may be due to the CAN (the African Football Cup) played in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in January and February 2012.” On to Accra, Ghana and Paul Craig, who is Aviance Ghana’s Managing Director.
“The last 12 months have been
interesting for us, with United Airlines and Brussels Airlines both pulling out of Ghana and Air Nigeria ceasing to trade. On the plus side, we have enjoyed additional fl ights from South African Airlines when they added Abidjan twice a week and Virgin Atlantic and Egypt Air added frequencies to the UK and Egypt. Domestically, there has been an enormous boom, with services to Takoradi, Tamale and Kumasi. Fly540, Starbow, Gambia Bird, Iberia and Africa World Airlines all joined Aviance Ghana, supporting our philosophy of providing international standards to our customers. Cargo has continued to grow, feeding the mining and oil industries. Emirates Sky Cargo and Ethiopian Airlines added a weekly cargo service whilst Cargolux has added another frequency. We were also very proud to handle the B747-800 for
Cargolux and the B787 Dreamliner for Ethiopian Airlines.”
Paul goes on to say that from his perspective, capital investment in ground support equipment is a continuous process and this is evaluated every year. “In 2012 we added six more tractors,
three forklift trucks, 36 cargo and baggage trailers, a towbarless pushback tractor (actually an AST-2R from Goldhofer) and an ambulift, courtesy of Mallaghan. For 2013 we have already secured production slots from JBT for a MDL60 and a CLT-8. Also on the shopping list are three staff buses.” Overall, he declares, staff turnover in Ghana tends to be very low, typically around 5% per annum. In consequence, other than mandatory refresher training, Aviance Ghana tends to focus on continuous improvement in customer care and supervisory skills. As it has its own training team and classroom facility, the handler is able to react quickly and positively to any situation. Even though turnover is low, Paul relates that it is important to keep enforcing the message and training remains a key area of focus for the operation.
“The market is continuously evolving and we must evolve alongside in order to keep pace. Airlines are always conscious of their costs and several carriers are eyeing the market with a view to bringing lower cost travel to the region, where predominantly fares have been high and frequencies low. This seed of change will be part of the future for African aviation and Aviance Ghana will ensure it is part of that future.”
Tough times
Forsyth Black, speaking on behalf of Menzies, reports that as has been the case elsewhere around the world in 2012, business in Africa has been tough. “We have seen the demise of our customer Velvet Sky in South Africa, which was our biggest hit. However, we continued to win contracts such as Air Seychelles Cargo, Turkish Cargo, Ruslan, Air Botswana and Korongo: all have moved or have opened services with Menzies during the past year. Many more of our customers renewed
their relationship with us, a signifi cant proportion on very long contracts. "Because of the downturn, there was a focus on using our assets more intensively, although we did invest in three airport buses for South Africa during the year.
“Our training department has been busy this year expanding what and how we train. Although we are more effi cient with fewer staff than in previous years, our staff are better trained and as a result, safer and more secure than ever. Finding new staff for our operation is not too diffi cult, with the exception of certain skilled jobs in certain locations, where things are a little more challenging. “For the third year in a row, Menzies was voted best handler at Johannesburg OR Tambo, where we also won the annual Safety Award, at ACSA’s Feather Award Ceremony in December. Our East London operation was also acknowledged best handler for the fourth year running, joining the 2012 best handler award for Menzies in Port Elizabeth.
“As I said, the aviation market these days is tough. It’s tough for the airlines and, in turn, that means it is tough for the service providers. The leanest, safest and most secure providers such as Menzies will be the survivors in the long term.”
An interesting period
“The last 12 months have been interesting for us at the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company because several operational activities defi ned the year,” relates Sanya Onayoade, the company’s Head of Corporate Communications. “There were challenges occasioned by the global economy, and a major air crash in Lagos, but we were able to weather the storm. We were pro- active towards these challenges, having initiated a Transformation Programme in 2010, which entailed a human capital re-jig, infrastructural renewal and a refreshment of our GSE. We started reaping the fruits of that programme in 2012.”
He goes on to say that Nahcoaviance was able to deliver a N2.1bn
Nahcoaviance renewed its ISAGO certifi cation in 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68