16 PASSENGER HANDLING
GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2013
Business Class buses are equipped with 30 luxury seats and both buses are laid with a parquet floor. Also important was the fact that this was the first COBUS delivery to Dubai: all our other customers in the Middle East have been operating the COBUS for many years now.”
New safety options on EINSA range
this involves acoustic and lighting approximation sensors on the access platform, a new LED illumination system on the stair flights; and up-to-date low emission diesel engines, according to the latest environmental regulations. “EINSA incorporates the latest generation of low emission engines on all its diesel-powered GSE. Moreover, EINSA is at the final stages of renovating its line of electric GSE, which includes passenger stairs, beltloaders and transporters. We expect to have a successful 2013 in both Spain and Europe, where we see new projects in the horizon.”
Contrac celebrates 30 years of business this August, so 2013 will be a special year for the manufacturer whose buses are to be found all over the globe. According to Andreas Funk, the company’s Sales Director, last year Contrac delivered 15 first class COBUS 2500 and 26 business class examples to Emirates Airlines in Dubai. In particular, the First Class buses were kitted out inside rather like the passengers’ lounge, with an extremely luxurious interior which was a very close approximation to the first class section of the Emirates Airlines A380. “The
Over the next few months Contrac is set to deliver the first fully electric powered eCOBUS 2500 to Stuttgart airport. This bus will be part of a three year ground breaking test programme at the airport which will entail environmentally-friendly battery- powered GSE. The eCOBUS 2500 has been designed with batteries of 150 kWh which will run for an eight hour operation without the requirement of being swapped over. Of interest to those going down the
green route is the fact that Contrac and its partners are presently developing a conversion eCOBUS 3000. The idea here is that customers can return an existing COBUS 3000 or 2700 diesel bus to the factory where it will be completely overhauled and modified with a facelift to almost match the latest COBUS design stage. The old diesel drive will be replaced by a fully electric drive system. The customer will receive the former diesel-powered bus in almost new condition but with the advantage of an e-drive at a price level that equates to the diesel powered version. The COBUS chassis supplier and Contrac shareholder (Messrs Daimler EvoBus) are also currently engaged in the development of the
COBUS BF chassis with the latest engine generation, that of the EUROMOT IV, which will meet both European and
future US emission standards. The first chassis and bus is expected to be introduced to the market in 2014.
Indian snapshot
But it has not been all wine and roses everywhere.
“Last year was very bad for us insofar as GSE sales were concerned,” reveals Raghunandan Jagdish, CEO and Director of Nandan. “However, we were able to export to Bhutan, Georgia and Nepal, although these products were catering hi-lifts. To be honest, we did not sell even a single set of self-propelled steps during the last 12 months. “Our product line includes self-
propelled, chassis mounted, universal steps as well as self-propelled steps that run on diesel or on battery power. We can also offer towable steps designed for operation with the A320, for example. “With the exception of defence companies, in the main others have not warmed to the idea of electric GSE. Electric is seen as a problem here because in India there are not adequate charging stations. However, we think the market will improve during the course of this year. We have not aggressively pursued exports of other GSE yet since we have been awaiting more growth in the market.”
Sales in China Contrac’s year included a very useful order for buses placed by Emirates
Weihai Guangtai’s Kevin Yang comments on Chinese production. “For stairs, we manufacture both motorised and towable varieties; these latter are best for the smaller airports. The motorised steps have grown in popularity and sales last year were very good indeed. We put this down to their simple construction and competitive price. It should be noted that we were selling mostly in China. Of interest to certain customers is the electric version that is now ready and these are destined for the overseas market. We actually started looking at alternative power for stairs back in 2010 and we are now able to offer either a custom- built chassis of our own design or one that is commercially available. “In terms of buses, we construct a very modern-looking vehicle that has plenty of glass. This has been sold both domestically and overseas and we can supply either a diesel-powered version or an electric one. That said, diesel is always the best seller. We started making buses in 2007 and we follow a standardised design. The fibreglass panels are sourced within China, and we have some local suppliers.”
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