62 RAMP EQUIPMENT NEWS
Chinese GSE venture gets underway
At the end of 2012 JBT AeroTech opened a new manufacturing facility in Kunshan, China. This new plant will initially manufacture Snow Panther aircraft de-icers and Commander 15i cargo loaders in order to meet the demands of the fast-growing Chinese aviation market. JBT already has a long, successful history in China providing airport equipment products for China’s major airlines, service providers and airport authorities.
The December 6 opening ceremony in Kunshan was attended by officials from Kunshan development community; the US Consulate General; China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Air China, the Xiamen Airport Authority, Shanghai Airport Authority, CAS AVITEC and CAS NW Branch, along with distinguished guests from the Chinese aviation community as well as JBT’s US and China-based personnel.
Power Stow: a capital year for Danish loaders
With all-time high revenues, Power Stow looks back on an encouraging 2012. Thanks to a constant focus on low maintenance costs, improved working conditions and shortened turnaround times, Power Stow and its unique brand continues to create a name for itself and is a success among handlers, airports and airlines. To keep up with the increasing demand, the company has upgraded its capacity and hired more staff during the last 12 months. As the CEO, Martin Vestergaard, puts it: “We are now in an interesting phase, with boosted sales, and we feel obliged to show our customers that we are ready to do what it takes to deliver within a reasonable timeframe. Our system is flexible and requires far less physical strain than working with a traditional beltloader. But in addition to the important health and safety issues and the cost reductions that a handler can obtain from fewer sick days amongst operators, there are better turnaround times and modest maintenance costs to consider: both of these are essential factors to most airport professionals. So, we feel we owe it to those who have shown us confidence in the Power Stow Rollertrack that we are making the necessary efforts to adapt our production to delivery requirements.” By maintaining high standards
throughout the whole sales process, from testing to delivering after-sales service, the company has made its
GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL FEBRUARY 2013
brand not only useful, but in some cases invaluable, during daily airside operations. As an example, the company completed delivery of 11 Power Stow Rollertracks to one of the world’s largest global shipping companies in January this year. The purchase decision was made by the customer after thorough testing and evaluation of impact on its working conditions.
During 2012 Power Stow succeeded
in growing its business in existing as well as relatively new markets, and as part of the strategy the company now looks to expand its business into new areas, in Europe as well as overseas.
Communication tools for a safer ramp from Icom
The IC-A15 from Icom is a new air band transceiver designed to be used by ground crew working in airports and airfields. The IC-A15 is compact, lightweight and has a high capacity lithium-ion battery pack (rated at 2000mAh), so that it can be used all day. It has high quality audio output to cut through environmental noise whilst the device is built in a rugged style, being rain-resistant and able to withstand the harsh environment of the ramp.
In all, 5 watts of transmission power
are built in, which is enough to cover the largest of airports and permit signals to pass through and around thick walls and metal hangars. In addition, 700mW of crisp, clear audio is provided by the built-in BTL amplifier, which should make communications problem-free. As part of its new range of ground to air radios, Icom is launching the IC-A210E Ground to Air Panel Mount Transceiver. The IC-A210E can easily be installed in most airport/airfield vehicles. This versatile radio operates on both 8.33 kHz and 25 kHz channel spacing frequencies. With this dual compatibility there is an increase in the number of channels available for operators. The IC-A210E is the same size as
Icom’s previous panel mount, the IC- A200. This means it can be interchanged with most predecessor radios now ending their life. Two types of rear-panel adapters are included, allowing it to be replaced without soldering. The built-in DC-DC converter accepts a 12/24V DC power source so it can be easily installed and adapted to most vehicles. The IC-A210E is very straightforward to use. It features an organic light emitting diode display that offers many advantages in terms of brightness, high contrast, wide viewing angle and response time when compared with conventional display. There are “flip-
flop” arrow button switches between the main and stand-by channels, whilst the dual watch function allows operators to monitor two channels simultaneously. In addition, the history memory stores the last ten channels used and allows users to recall those channels easily.
Winter weather no drawback at Domodedovo
Moscow’s Domodedovo airport has invested a total of 350m roubles in the purchase of de-icing machinery and equipment for cleaning the airfield in preparation for the coming winter. During the run-up to the autumn/winter period, which lasts from October 2012 to March 2013, in total it acquired 14 additional emergency vehicles from some of the world’s leading manufacturers. All the equipment purchased will meet Euro IV and Euro V international environmental standards.
Domodedovo airport continues to operate the most up-to-date equipment. In November-December 2012, the de-icing fleet consisting of 24 vehicles and this will be reinforced with four, state-of-the-art de-icing machines, namely Vestergaard’s Elephant Beta. The equipment will be used to de-ice aircraft with their engines running. This technology has already proved itself in various airports in Canada, the US and Europe, whilst in Russia it was first adapted and applied by the operators at Domodedovo. Handling aircraft with their engines running can reduce the waiting time and the time employed for taxi-ing an aircraft after its handling, as well as reduce the consumption of de-icing fluid, and make the de-icing fleet more efficient in its operation. To apply this technology, which was first tested in February 2012, Domodedovo airport is using two special sites, which are located at the ends of the runway No 1. Each of the two sites can receive two aircraft alternately. By the next autumn/winter season, the airport will have reached full production capacity and will be able to handle three times more aircraft at each site. This coming winter, Domodedovo airport will employ 43 units of equipment, including two new snowblowers, four jet sweepers and four anti-icing distributors for cleaning the airfield of snow and ice. The fleet renewal will make it possible for Domodedovo airport to provide a higher quality service in terms of handling of aircraft and cleaning the airfield.
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