Business Buzz
¦ WorkBridge, a resource management solution provider, announced that it has seen impressive growth over the last 24 months in the Middle and Far East sectors of their business as ground handlers and airport companies look to enhance efficiency and reduce cost. As part of their strategy for global expansion and after recent opening of offices in the UK and South Africa, WorkBridge has now opened the first of its Asian offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The opening was celebrated Feb. 2 with many representatives from regional customers and partners.
¦ Siemens announced it was awarded a $28 million contract from Turner Construction Company to design, supply and install a baggage handling system as part of the renovation of Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport. The contract also includes the operation and maintenance of the system for two years.
¦ DEUTZ AG announced it will be bundling its exhaust gas technology expertise in the “EAT – Exhaust After-treatment” product line. The company said the goal is to promote customer-oriented solutions for the system integration of engine/exhaust technology quickly and efficiently, opening up additional growth opportunities by marketing a variety of EAT modules and systems as well as EAT development and application services.
¦ Swissport International reported favorable business trends for 2008 despite a difficult market environment. The world ground handling leader raised its total operating revenue 8.6 percent to EUR 1202 million.
¦ Cavotec MSL announced that it has recently won a string of orders to supply ground support equipment to several major airports around the world. These orders are worth about EUR 3.6 million. These deals include three types of Cavotec pit supply systems for Manchester Airport, the UK’s largest airport outside London. The systems will serve Manchester’s A380 stand. Similarly, Cavotec is supplying more than 30 pop-up pits for the new international airport in Doha, Qatar, and vault systems to India’s New Delhi airport.
¦ Grand Bending, a division of Morris Coupling Company, announced the company’s complete line of custom short radius bends and assemblies featuring compound bends, welded fabrications, expansions and swaging with applications in customized exhaust systems for off-road vehicles, high-performance exhaust systems, heat exchangers and pneumatic and vacuum conveying components.
¦ Tronair announced that it has opened a sales office in China. Sales representative Eric Guo, China sales manager, is located in Xiamen, China, and is responsible for growing the Asian market. The new office, along with the company’s existing office in Thailand, will serve from Korea, to China, Australia and India.
¦ The International Air Transport Association announced a revised outlook for the global air transport industry with losses of $4.7 billion in 2009. The figures are significantly worse than IATA’s December forecast for a $2.5 billion loss in 2009, reflecting the rapid deterioration of the global economic conditions, according to IATA.
Partnerships/Acquisitions/Contracts
¦ Swissport International and Virgin Atlantic Airways have concluded a cooperation agreement covering the handling of Virgin Atlantic’s cargo Europewide. The accord, which extends to up to 40 destinations and will enter into effect May 1, further underlines the growing importance and appeal to all sides of multinational network agreements within the ground handling industry, according to Swissport.
¦ Aviapartner Handling announced a contract to handle Malaysia Airlines’ daily flight in Amsterdam, operated with B747 or B777 aircraft. The contract covers full handling services which include passenger services (check-in, boarding assistance, baggage tracing services), aircraft handling (loading and unloading of baggage, ground power, cleaning, water and sanitary services, baggage transfer to terminal, headset, pushback and towing), and traffic operations (flight documentation, communication, crew briefing, and flight supervision). Malaysia Airlines already is Aviapartner’s customer in Amsterdam for cargo-handling services.
¦ I.D. Systems Inc. announced that American Eagle Airlines has selected I.D. Systems’ AvRamp™ Wireless Vehicle Management System (VMS) to manage a fleet of aircraft ground support equipment (GSE) at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The AvRamp system — which was developed in part through funding from the Transportation Security Administration, and which is TSA- and FAA-approved for use at U.S. Airports — provides a wide range of safety, security and operational management functions for airport vehicles.
¦ Interturbine Logistik GmbH, a global one-stop source of maintenance materials, announced the signing of a distribution agreement with Schneller Inc. Schneller is one of the leading manufacturers of engineered decorative laminates and non-textile floor coverings (NTF) for the aerospace industry. Interturbine Logistik GmbH is the official Quick Ship Partner of Schneller for customized quantities used for urgent needs. The contract covers the worldwide Quick Ship supply of AerFilm LHR and AerMat 9000.
¦ Aviapartner Handling announced a contract to handle Turkuaz Airlines’ six flights per week in Amsterdam (it will be 14 flights per week as of May 1), operated with A320/A321 aircraft. The contract covers full handling services. Turkuaz Airlines is a new airline for Amsterdam-Schiphol.
¦ AERO Specialties has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Jet Go International, an Australian manufacturer of unique aircraft ground power units. Jet Go’s newest product, the 550M diesel-powered 28-volt GPU, recently made its debut. The Jet Go 550M is compact and easily maneuverable by hand, but also can be towed with a tug. Combining a small (34hp, Tier 4/Euro stage IIIA) diesel engine and batteries, the unit offers 550 continuous amps of 28.5-volt DC power with peak starting amperage of over 1500. At a typical load rating of 40 percent, the 550M consumes less than one gallon of fuel per hour, making it one of the greenest fuel-burning GPU on the market, according to AERO Specialties.
¦ proveo, part of Zebra Enterprise Solutions at Zebra Technologies and a software provider addressing the real-time requirements of ground handlers, airlines and other aviation service providers, signed a historic multi-million Euro contract with Dnata, the largest supplier of air travel services in the Middle East. Established more than 50 years ago in the UAE, Dnata has signed the largest contract in the history of proveo to implement the proveo Airport Visualiser suite at Dubai International Airport. The proveo solution will support 1,500 pieces of ground support equipment (GSE) and other ramp vehicles that Dnata operate in Dubai.
¦ Aviapartner Handling is proud to announce that it has signed a major contract with Swiss International Air Lines for the provision of full handling services in Lyon. The contract, effective as of March 29, covers four daily flights, operated with Avro ARJ1 aircraft. The set of full handling services, which Aviapartner will provide to Swiss International Air Lines in Lyon includes passenger services, aircraft handling, and traffic operations.
¦ Swissport International has won a new license together with its partner, Customer Ground Services AG (CGS), to offer special assistance services (PRM) at Zurich Airport. Swissport and CGS will be founding a new joint-venture subsidiary named “Careport” to provide the services concerned. Careport will begin operations with the start of the 2009-10 winter schedules, and will offer its services — on behalf of Zurich Airport — to all involved airlines.
People in the News
¦ Swissport International has appointed Toshihiro Kyuki as new CEO effective April 1. He succeeded Shigeru Ohashi, who has moved to a new position within Marubeni, a Swissport joint-venture partner.
¦ Sigal Mannheim Katzovich has been appointed CEO of Swissport Cargo Services in Tel Aviv. She assumed her new duties March 1. Mannheim succeeded Amnon Abraham, who has moved to a new senior position within the Swissport Group.
¦ SW Microtec AG, a supplier of RFID components, has appointed Dr. Heiko Färber as new chief financial officer (CFO), to play an influential role in driving the company’s ongoing growth trends.
¦ Swissport International has appointed two new executive vice presidents to its group executive management. Luis Pascual, currently group CFO, will be handing over his duties to Alvaro Gómez Reino, who joins Swissport from Ferrovial subsidiary Amey. Elena Fernandez will be succeeded as general counsel & head of legal affairs by José Ramón Delgado Lorente, who moves to Swissport from Cintra, a Ferrovial subsidiary.
¦ Officials at HBD/Thermoid Inc. announced that David A. Schempp will be the company’s new director of sales and marketing. HBD/Thermoid Inc. is a subsidiary of HBD Industries Inc., a supplier of industrial products in North America. HBD/Thermoid Inc. manufactures standard and application-engineered industrial rubber products, including conveyor belting, ducting and hose.
