24 WORLD ANALYSIS
needs, procedures in line with AHM611 are followed.
Huseyin ends on an optimistic note. “In general, tourism in Tunisia is resilient and is expected to recover quickly: the 2012 statistics are looking promising for the coming years.”
Dubai: never a dull moment
Dubai International airport is always busy, relates dnata’s Jon Conway. For that reason, it has been a challenge for the handler to keep up. “We had ten new airlines starting operations in 2012, all of which were served by dnata: these included Spicejet, Windrose, Transavia, Faraz Qeshm and Ghadames Air. Of course, 2013 promises to be equally busy and challenging as Emirates opens its dedicated, 20 gate A380 concourse at the start of the year.” Such growth and activity come at a price: dnata acquired over 100 new items of GSE during 2012, including a state-of-the-art Sidebull ambulift designed to further improve its service to the PRM. Also on the list were half a dozen lower deck loaders, a towbarless tractor and 20 sets of steps. “We have also had a change in strategy and now prefer to work with two preferred suppliers, per GSE type, to reduce maintenance and training complexity. We are also looking at electric baggage tractors, combined with smart chargers for our expanded Terminal 2 operation.
“Over the past five years the dnata training department has undergone a complete revision to cope with the growth in the business. We currently have a staff training unit that trains 1,600 staff per month. This includes ab initio, safety, equipment and recurrent training. The acceptance and recognition of what we have achieved is evidenced by the adoption of the Australian training standards by Onednata." Jon points out that two of the company’s most notable recent training developments were when dnata conducted a review of training to cater for the expansion of Emirates and Dubai International. “We consolidated the training activities of all departments and subsequently searched for and identified a recognised standard for the development of training packages that were specific to aviation and to ground handling at the vocational level. The only sufficiently detailed standard that covers all areas was the Australian Skills framework and the relevant package is AVI08.” Moreover, dnata aligned some 73
internal training courses with the AVI08 standard and actually re-wrote the
GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL FEBRUARY 2013
courses. This was completed over a 12 month period and had been operating for a year at the time of writing. Still on the topic of training and
safety, all dnata’s trainers were assessed to ensure consistent standards of delivery and they are all in fact now certified to specific units within the corresponding Australian standard TAE40110 - Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. Jon goes on to explain the mechanics of the system. “Once an employee passes through the formal training programmes as outlined above, they are passed to the departmental workplace trainers for specific on-job instruction. A formal structure was introduced to manage and govern the activities of the workplace trainers which also includes certification and authorisation to operate as a one- on-one trainer. Mandatory certification was introduced for the workplace trainers to TAEDEL301A.
“The Australian Skills Framework aviation package has now been adopted as a core standard for all dnata ground handling operations worldwide and a project has been initiated to align all business units to this standard. “We are using the European Common Framework as the standard for English in our ground handling business. We have fully accredited English teachers working with the training department who test and provide programmes to staff to help them improve. We are also exploring the transition to become compliant to ICAO Level 4 Aviation English phraseology for all staff working on the manoeuvring area, namely line mechanics, brake riders and pushback operators. The Regulatory Authority has mandated 2016 for full compliance in the UAE.”
As if this were not enough, Jon adds that in the coming 12 months dnata is introducing a full, on-line technical instructional and certification programme for its GSE maintenance trades people. There will be options to expand the programme offering to include aircraft in due course. Mohammed Abu Libdeh, Chief Executive Officer of Hadid, reckons that 2012 was a challenging year for aviation
across the board, but for Hadid certain markets, notably the Middle East and the Far East, showed more resilience than others.
“On a personal note, we have recently won a contract with UNFP and we were also made the exclusive agents for issuing over-flying and landing permits in Niger last year. I would say that overall it has been a good year for us. In addition to that, the African Business Aviation Association announced ahead of this year’s Middle Eastern Business Aviation convention that Hadid International Services had been selected as the penultimate Founding Member of the recently launched Association. “For over 30 years our company has been carrying out a supervisory rôle in terms of ground handling services and on the usage of GSE at airports. However, investing in our own equipment as an FBO is one of our future plans, and of course environmentally-friendly GSE will be a main factor when we make any choice. “Currently, and based on what we
have previously mentioned, we organise general, local training for our staff to fulfill supervisory duties at airports; but as soon as we have our own equipment in one or more locations, new arrangements and training programmes will be implemented.” He concludes that the current year looks very promising, despite the ongoing economic difficulties. “It seems obvious that the demand for global connectivity is rising. According to IATA’s forecast for 2013, the industry is expecting for the first time ever to handle over 3bn passengers, which only means more business and profitability for the flight support industry. We are possibly looking at expanding further in our areas of strength, the MENA region and entering newer markets, like China and South America.”
A successful year
Saudi Ground Services’ Dr Moteb Saud Al-Zahrani, who is GM Marketing and Sales, reports that in general, his operation has been both smooth and successful.
Middle East and Far East markets were good for Hadid over the last 12 months
“SGS handles more than 270,000 flights annually in 27 airports in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including the international airports Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam and Medina. Amongst those starting operation in 2012 were Ethiopian, Bahrain Air, Nesma and Korean Air whilst we looked after several Hajj flights from newcomers such as Safi Airways and Senegal Airlines, amongst others. Sadly, Malaysian
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