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CUSTOMER VOICE

HELLAS JETNew Greek airline Hellas Jet has setitself the bold challenge of offering apremium product at a competitiveprice and is working with Swissport tomake it happen. 6

EXECUTIVE AVIAT ION

INTERVIEW

AMSTERDAM SCHIPHOLAmsterdam Schiphol, which operatesone of the most liberalised handlingenvironments in Europe, takes a hands-on approach to monitoring groundhandling price, quality and opera-tional safety. 14–15

STRATEGIC TARGETSWith the arrival of a new VP, thelaunch of value-adding training initia-tives and continued expansion efforts,the Swissport Executive Aviation busi-ness unit has set itself some cleartargets. 8

Swissport and SWISS InternationalAir Lines recently concluded a newform of collaboration that demon-strates a mould-breaking approachfor the entire airline sector.

W H AT I S already commonplacein other industries (such as car manu-facturing, IT and logistics) is slowlycoming to the aviation world. Whilethe question would have been un-thinkable a few years ago, more air-lines are coming to seriously consideroutsourcing some of their activities –and several are even laying concreteplans to do so.

Of course, the change of heart hasbeen prompted by the increasingpressure to lower costs. But it hasbeen encouraged by more fundamen-tal considerations about what an air-line needs to do itself and what can bemore meaningfully bought in. Thesimple but telling motto “Do whatyou do best and outsource the rest” isgaining momentum and winningmore converts among airline execu-tives.

It is not that entrusting certain prod-ucts and services to ground handlersis spectacularly new. But it is only inthe last few months that many air-lines’ discussions on outsourcing alltheir handling functions and activitieshave really taken off.

The best example of the trend is SWISSInternational Air Lines, which hasbeen holding intensive talks withseveral of its suppliers. As a result ofthese discussions, Swissport is now inthe process of taking over the respon-sibility for all of SWISS’s groundservices worldwide,making it the firstground handler to achieve full inte-gration on this scale.

The SWISS mandate is a hugely chal-lenging undertaking, but is one thatpromises winners all round.Swissportcan strengthen its presence aroundthe world and make the most of thesynergies available at the stationsconcerned. Meanwhile, SWISS shouldachieve substantial cost savings andbe freer to focus on its core flightoperations.

SWISS may be a relatively new addi-tion to the air transport landscape,butthe new arrangement is only the firstconcrete manifestation of a move thatmany carriers have long been consid-ering.

Partial steps in this direction are a fur-ther possibility that also offer theprospect of win-win success. UnitedAirlines, for example, outsourced itscargo handling at 18 stations this sum-mer, with Swissport taking over atseven. Elsewhere, easyJet has an-nounced that it will transfer its ownhandling at Geneva and Luton –involving over 80 flights a day – to anindependent ground handler fromearly 2004.

What has been suspected for sometime is now becoming increasinglyclear: the airline ground handlingindustry is undergoing radical change.And it is a development that offersattractive business opportunities forall parties involved.

Stephan Beerli

IN DISCUSSION

SWISS COLLABORATIONSwissport is to assume all of SWISS’sground handling activities – a movethat takes the partners’ current col-laboration to a whole new dimension.Swissreporter spoke to senior execu-tives from SWISS and Swissport tolearn more. 2–3

International customer journal

Swissport International Ltd., Issue 12, December 2003

OUTSOURCING ■ A global ground handling first

Each to their own

our services will help offset the busi-ness decline we have felt throughSWISS’s current resizing. And it willprovide welcome stability for our per-sonnel. The new arrangement willalso enable us to consolidate and fur-ther diversify the range of services weoffer.And it will offer new opportuni-ties – for example, in markets, wherewe have had no presence before.

But in entrusting its ground services toyou, isn’t SWISS giving away one of itstrump cards in customer terms?

S I E B E R : It is the airline that de-fines the product and manages theprocesses. Nothing will change there.Our job, as ground handling pro-fessionals, is to deliver the standardsenshrined in the Service Level Agree-ments. Satisfied customers over thelong-term: that is what we are bothstriving for.

W E D E R : This is partly about costsand partly about improving the cur-rent situation by involving Swissportmore clearly and giving them fullresponsibility – a move that will alsobe reflected in the SWISS accessoriesand uniforms their staff will wear. So,we will not just be working togethermore closely; we will also be workingbetter. We want to develop a jointidentity.That requires trust, a constantexchange of information and opennessand transparency on both sides.

And what will the SWISS customerfeel of this new division of roles?

S I E B E R : In the past, the airline’scustomers have had a handling agentand a station manager to consult. Infuture, we will be their sole partner.So, in addition to the responsibility itwill bring, our new role calls for moreempathy and understanding…

W E D E R : …and yet, at the sametime, our customers should “feel”SWISS more than they have in thepast. We cannot have any repeat ofthe situation where a passenger whoasks a Swissport employee a difficultquestion is told to talk to SWISS.

Still, financial considerations musthave been the main concern ?

S I E B E R : We have an extensivenetwork of operations around theworld: SWISS is one of our biggestcustomers, but they still only accountfor some 23% of our total operatingrevenue. So, what we can offer is a lotof synergic potential through bund-ling certain resources. And clearerstructures will always make thingssimpler and less expensive…

2 Swissreporter – The Swissport customer journal ■ December 2003

I N D I S C U S S I O N

SWISS COLLABORATION ■ The way ahead

Cementing the relationship

oration in the ground services field.And, working with Swissport, this iswhat we came up with. So, raisingefficiency was the prime motive forthe change.

Urs Sieber, how did you land thismajor deal with SWISS?

U R S S I E B E R : Just as Mr Wedersaid! Eliminating duplication was amajor argument. By doing so, we canhelp SWISS improve its cost structureand offer more consistent customer

service. However, it will take a lot ofeffort and adjustment on both sides ifwe are to achieve our goals.

Sounds like a win-win situation. Whatdoes Swissport gain?

S I E B E R : We have a lot of experi-ence in managing a hub. Expanding

Swissport is to assume all of SWISS’sground handling activities, a movethat takes the partners’ current colla-boration to another level. Swiss-reporter spoke with Daniel Weder,SWISS Executive VP Product & Ser-vices, and Urs Sieber, SwissportEVP Division Switzerland, to learnmore.

S W I S S R E P O R T E R : DanielWeder, what prompted SWISS to putall of its ground handling into some-one else’s hands?

DANI E L WEDER : Our originalplan had been to insource groundhandling, but we didn’t push thisthrough and ended up with some-thing of a half-and-half solution.When we came to reassess all ourcooperation agreements for our newbusiness plan, we found a lot ofduplication on the airport front.And these were causing a lot of con-fusion: in terms of responsibilities,for example.

So, as we conducted our analysis, weasked ourselves if there might be new ways of structuring our collab-

“In addition to the responsibility,our new role calls for more empathy

and understanding.”Urs Sieber

Urs Sieber (left) and Daniel Weder discussthe fine details of the new collaboration.

W E D E R : …and this will provide uswith sizable savings in the long-term.

And how have SWISS staff reacted tothese plans, MrWeder?

With a fair amount of scepticism, as you can imagine.The new model affectssome 300 of our staff around the worldand a lot of people are worried abouttheir jobs. So, we need to do quite a bitof persuading to allay these uncertain-

ties.We want to be fair and our peopleneed to feel that. But these develop-ments will take a while to digest. Wehave, however, created a “soundingboard” for everyone affected.

Are we going to see a migration ofpersonnel from SWISS to Swissport?

W E D E R : The basis of any actionshere will have to be:how many peopledoes Swissport need? But the jobsavailable will be open to all.

S I E B E R : We are sure to see sometransfers, although given the natureof synergies one plus one is likely toadd up to 1.2 or 1.5, rather than two.

Outsourcing and insourcing seem topass in and out of favour like the latestfashion trends!

S I E B E R : Core competencies inancillary fields will always developbetter in independent companies thanwithin a major corporation.By entrust-ing these activities to a professionalprovider, you can bring a lot of stabil-ity to these operations – provided, thatis, you have strong partnerships thatare based on confidence and perform-ance, and aren’t changed like shirts.

W E D E R : I wouldn’t describe whatwe are doing as outsourcing. What we are embarking on is a new workmodel.We are developing a new formof collaboration with a new spirit thatis based on shared responsibility andshared quality principles.

So, are we seeing the birth of a newground handling approach?

S I E B E R : Absolutely. Every airlinewants to raise its quality, lower its costsand focus on its core flight operations.

That is why Swissport is currently con-vincing airlines all over the world of thebenefits of this model…

W E D E R : …because airlines justcan’t afford to maintain completecompetence centres for their hand-ling activities. That is why I am alsoconvinced that we will see this modeladopted more and more throughoutthe ground handling sector.

Interview:Urs von Schroeder

The Swissport customer journal ■ December 2003 – Swissreporter 3

I N D I S C U S S I O N

“Raising efficiencywas the prime motive for the

change.”Daniel Weder

T H E H O T Q U E S T I O N S

William Meany, Managing Director andChief Commercial Officer at SWISS, alsooffers his personal thoughts on three keypoints.

On any possible dependency upon Swiss-port…There is no fear of dependency, as we see Swissport as an important part-ner. Instead,we see issues of how to keep

our marriage vibrant and how to ensure we have continually improvingquality of service at competitive cost in an environment that is constantlychanging. In a normal relationship you achieve this assurance through com-petitive tendering. In a partnership relationship you look for other mecha-nisms where you can manage and improve both cost and quality.

On whether the deal will be impacted by the arrival of future alliancepartners…This partnership is robust in all alliance scenarios envisaged. This is not tosay that there would be no impact because the one-roof concept oftenpractised by alliances can force change at specific stations. But, overall,we envisage that the partnership will remain intact and prosper.

On which business unit or service will be outsourced next…First, I call this partnering rather than outsourcing as the collaboration is much closer than in the normal outsourcing arena of IT, etc. Catering isanother area where such a partnership is under consideration.

Around 40 of the people involved in the new SWISS/Swissport collaboration gatheredfor the official kick-off meeting at Zürich Airport.

Outsourcing business processeshas been a growing practice overthe past years, as it can signifi-cantly boost a company’s perform-ance. But for outsourcing to reallywork, it has to be approached inthe correct way.

R E S E A R C H conducted by theMcKinsey consultancy in 2002 dem-onstrated that making an outsourcingdeal work and fully realising itsexpected benefits requires a companyto do some homework. A key lessonlearnt is that a company must be verysystematic in the way it evaluates apotential deal.

In the first instance, it is important tounderstand the value a potential pro-vider brings to the table. It is com-monly assumed that BPO’s valuerests on the provider’s ability to lever-age economies of scale and skills, to

access low-cost locations and labour,to manage the activity at lower cost,and – over time – to innovate and co-dify how the process is performed.

While all of this is true, some of thesebenefits can be replicated in-house.Therefore, both companies andproviders are better served whenmanagers do the math on the dealbefore signing on the dotted line. Wefound that companies typically resistperforming a thorough evaluation

because of the time and managementattention required to do the job right.Still, such analysis is crucial to suc-cessful deals.

Anticipating in advance where thegains will be – and including these inthe structure of the deal – increasesthe chances that both parties will besatisfied with their agreement for thelifetime of the deal.

A provider’s real valueContrary to popular belief, we thinkthat the value created by outsourcingderives from three sources:

■ First, it allows a better allocation ofscarce management resources forthe company outsourcing a part ofits business.

■ Second, it accelerates the captureof savings. Outsourcers can scale

up much faster than individualcompanies can. After all, helpingcompanies through transitions andproviding a single, well-oiled ser-vice to multiple customers is whattheir business is all about.

■ Third, it reduces risk by contract-ually guaranteeing performance.The importance of this benefit can-not be overemphasised.

In-house assessmentOutsourcing is a good deal if theprovider can deliver performance im-provements above and beyond whatthe company can do on its own.

Companies typically compare anassessment of the value gained byoutsourcing a process against theircurrent costs for operating theprocess – not against what improve-ments can be made to the process bythe company itself. This is a seriousmistake.

Executives should compare the re-sults from the in-house investigationwith what an outsourcer can provideand measure the difference along

multiple dimensions: Can the out-sourcer drive costs lower? Can it cap-ture the benefits earlier? Can it furtherincrease the quality of the service?Can it leverage an existing IT plat-form to reduce new investments? Willit agree to contractually commit to thebenefits it promises? Can it regularlybring the most relevant innovations to

bear on the process and continuouslyimprove performance and quality?

At the end of this analysis, executiveshave a deep understanding of thecompany’s operations and of the valueof outsourcing – exceptionally valu-


O U T S O U R C I N G

PLANNING ■ Outsourcing critical business processes

Making the homeworkcount

able information for structuring adeal with a provider. It enables thecompany and the provider to defineclear expectations for a workableagreement.

Outsourcing business processes canbe a highly worthwhile undertakingfor a company to raise its perform-

ance.And there is no doubt that a sys-tematic approach to evaluating a dealwill help in making it work.

Thomas Bull-Larsen

Executives should compare the resultsfrom the in-house investigation

with what an outsourcer can provideand measure the difference along

multiple dimensions.

T H O M A S B U L L - L A R S E N

Thomas Bull-Larsen is a SeniorPartner in McKinsey’s Travel &Logistics practice located in Zürich.A native of Norway, he has spentthe past 10 years consulting tocompanies in the transportationbusiness.

Outsourcing is a good deal ifthe provider can deliver performance

improvements above and beyondwhat the company can do on its own.

S E C U R I T Y S E R V I C E S

Swissport recently outlined its com-mitment to become a major providerof integrated aviation security ser-vices. Malcolm Mackay, Swissport’snew VP Aviation Security Services,explains.

S E C U R I T Y , as it relates to pas-senger, baggage and freight handling,is now more than ever a vital ingredi-ent in the services required by air car-riers and expected by the travellingpublic. However, it has traditionallybeen seen as an added requirementnot always compatible with otheraspects of ground handling.

Today,European legislation – in addi-tion to that being enforced by the US– places a large burden of responsi-bility upon the carrier. Fortunately,Swissport is uniquely placed to allevi-

ate that burden through an explor-ation of the synergies that exist withour ground handling activities.

By building security into other aspectsof handling rather than treating it as aseparate entity, Swissport has thepotential to improve the effectivenessof the process in addition to its over-all economics.

My aim in the coming weeks will bethree-fold: first, to begin a familiarisa-tion process with existing Swissportlocations and especially those whereinterface already exists with the secur-ity process and the regulatory agencies;second, to introduce myself and theSwissport concept to those agencies;and, third, to work with Swissport man-agement towards identifying locationswhere that concept may be introduced.

Ultimately, the objective is the cre-ation of a new business line that willcomplement Swissport’s core busi-ness.

Security measures, when effectivelyapplied, can enhance the passengerexperience and add value to a car-rier’s performance. And there is nobetter platform from which to workthan the strong tradition of neutralitycombined with the outstanding repu-tation for customer service and qual-ity already offered by Swissport.

For my part, I intend to establish aservice in which Swissport can takeadditional pride and, moreover, willbe working towards a system in whichI firmly believe.

Malcolm Mackay


F R O M T H E T O P

E V E RY airline knows that treatingcustomers well on the ground and inthe air is a prerequisite for success.

BUSINESS UNIT ■ Aviation Security

Safe and sound

M A L C O L M M A C K AY

For more information, contactMalcolm Mackay, VP AviationSecurity Services, at:P.O. Box CH-8058 Zürich-Airport Phone:+43 699 1247 1175 Fax: +41 1 811 10 01 [email protected]

But as financial pressure increases,more airlines have thought aboutsecuring professional service at areduced cost by entrusting their groundhandling operations to experts.

Outsourcing is the name of the game.And Swissport – a former division of anational carrier – has long experiencein running a hub organisation with inte-grated passenger and ramp services.

SWISS International Air Lines hasalready entrusted us with its huboperation, but is not alone. Swissportoperates as an independent groundhandler,which means that a variety of

other airlines continue to work withus on outsourcing solutions.

However, the concept being imple-mented with SWISS is the most in-novative so far. It is based on totaloutsourcing – an approach commonto other industries, but only now tak-ing off in the airline industry. By pro-viding SWISS with a total packagethat takes care of all aspects of itsground handling operation, we aim torealise substantial costs savings forthe customer.

Of course, assigning such a crucialarea as customer service to a third

party demands confidence and trust.It also requires a systematic approach,hard work and detailed monitoring toensure that commonly agreed servicelevels are met.

However, with our quality approach,customer dedication and the profes-sional skills of our project managers,we are confident that Swissport –together with our airline customers –will continue to set the pace in thisnew trend.

Joseph In AlbonPresident & CEOSwissport International Ltd

CEO COMMENT ■ Treating the customer right

Setting the outsourcing pace

New Greek airline Hellas Jet hasset itself the bold challenge of of-fering a premium product at acompetitive price. Here, StavrosAgathangelou, CFO and ActingGeneral Manager, outlines howSwissport fits into the carrier’scost-conscious approach.

T H E I N D U S T RY is changing ata frightening speed. But while mostwould agree that changes continue tobenefit travellers, it is difficult to saythe same for the airlines themselves.

On the contrary, many carriers con-tinue to fight for their very survival.The events of September 11, the warin Iraq, followed by the SARS out-break and the deep recession that hitEurope and the US, have done fewairlines any favours.

And although I believe there is lightat the end of the tunnel and that mar-kets are recovering, it is always dan-gerous to take anything for granted insuch a high-capital and labour inten-sive business.

Crucially, the demands of passengershave also changed – something thathas precipitated the development ofthe low-cost airline model in Europe.But,although travellers today want topay as little as possible, I do not agreethat they want to dispense with ser-vice and frills – they just don’t want topay for them.What this means is that,as a carrier, if you provide servicesthen you had better make sure costsare kept as low as possible.

And that is the challenge for HellasJet, a newly established Greek airline

operating from Athens InternationalAirport with twice-daily services toLondon, Paris and Brussels.

Our philosophy is to offer a premiumproduct at competitive prices. That iswhy our trio of new A320 aircraft allcome equipped with state-of-the-arttechnology and are configured to pro-vide all passengers with comfort andluxury. Unusually, we offer IFE andleather seats in both business andeconomy class.

Of course, offering high-quality ser-vice is the easy bit; the difficult part isto remain competitive while, at thesame time, also profitable.

So, what is our strategy? First, wehave instilled a very low-cost philoso-phy amongst our employees. Second,

as a new airline, we have the benefitof starting with a clean sheet – withnone of the damaging corporate bag-gage of longer-established carriers –and employ young, motivated andexperienced staff.

Third,we have introduced technologythat will reduce our unit costs as muchas possible.

And, last but not least, we outsource,which is how we began our relation-ship with Swissport.

We believe that an airline does notneed its own handling unit at its homebase. In fact, we believe that a groundhandler can do a lot more than mostpeople think. For instance, a profes-sional handler offers the flexibility toadjust to market fluctuations, while atthe same time allowing customers theopportunity to only pay for the ser-vices needed.

I am a strong believer in specialisa-tion and am certain that a reputableground handler can provide betterquality and more cost-effective ser-vices than an airline (especially asmall one) can produce internally.

What is important, though, is toensure good and regular communica-tion between airline and handler sothat both fully understand what isexpected and can react quickly to anyproblems that arise.

During our five months of operation,we have experienced the profession-alism and support of Swissport notonly at our home base, but also inLondon. We look forward to extend-ing that relationship in a way thatbenefits both parties.

Times may be hard for airlines, butsuch times often lead people to seekalternative methods and establish dif-ferent kinds of relationships.

In Swissport, I genuinely believe wehave forged that kind of relationshipand, above all, found a partner thatcan provide a flexible,reliable and cost-effective ground handling solution.

Stavros Agathangelou


C U S T O M E R V O I C E

DID YOU KNOW?

■ Hellas Jet opened for business in June 2003, flying to three main Euro-pean destinations: Brussels, London and Paris. The carrier plans to addnew medium-haul destinations within the next two years

■ The Greek airline has three main shareholders: Cyprus Airways (49%),Omega Bank (26%) and AEF European Capital Investments (25%), a100% subsidiary of Alpha Bank

■ Hellas Jet’s fleet consists of three brand-new A320-232 aircraft whichaccommodate a total of 148 passengers (16 in business class and 132 ineconomy)

■ Each aircraft has been given a name inspired by ancient Greek mythology,planets and constellations: Hermes (messenger of the Gods), Orion (themythical hunter), and Pegasus (the winged horse)

“I am certain that a reputableground handler can provide

better quality and more cost-effective services than an

airline can produce internally.”

HELLAS JET ■ Live report from Athens

High quality at low cost

Swissport has reinforced its lead-ing position in the low-cost airlinesector by securing significant newbusiness from Brazilian carrierGOL, the largest low-cost operatorin South America.

W H E N G O L awarded its under-the-wing business to Swissport at fouradditional stations in the summer, itinstantly became the largest customerin Swissport’s Latin American divi-sion. Swissport Brazil now handles150 flights per day for GOL at 14 sta-tions across the country.

GOL only launched operations inJanuary 2001,but has already becomeBrazil’s third largest airline (afterTAM and Varig).The carrier’s afford-able approach to air travel has beenwarmly embraced by a Brazilian mar-ket hit hard by economic recession.

And Swissport Brazil has been withGOL every step of the way. Havinginitially handled the carrier at fivestations – GOL’s main hub at SãoPaulo Congonhas, Brasilia, Salvadorde Bahia, Fortaleza and Recife – GOLlater awarded Swissport ramp hand-ling responsibilities in Rio de Janeiro,Natal, Viracopos and Manaus.

But the clearest indication that GOLsees Swissport Brazil as its long-termhandling partner came this summerwhen the carrier switched its businessfrom former supplier SATA at fouradditional airports: Santos Dumont(Rio’s domestic airport), Curitiba,Florianopolis and Porto Alegre.

All four stations are situated in themore economically developed southof the country; as such, the flight

following enforced market retrench-ment in 2002.

GOL’s low-cost operating style hasalso required Swissport to demon-strate its flexibility. Take baggagehandling, for example, where for costreasons GOL prefers to use manual,colour-coded labels for each destina-tion rather than computerised labels.As such, Swissport had to inventtotally new procedures for baggagematching and weight calculation.

“This kind of thinking is very import-ant, because reducing handling costsis crucial,” says Gargioni.

Already, GOL has more than tripledits fleet from six to 22 latest genera-tion B737-700 and 737-800 aircraft injust two years. The expanded rela-tionship with Swissport is likely tobenefit both organisations as the car-rier continues its remarkable growth.

Richard Rowe

N O - F R I L L S A I R L I N E S

NEXT STOP MONTEVIDEO

Swissport Latin America has fol-lowed its collaboration with GOLby signing a handling agreementwith Uair, a new low-cost carrierfrom Uruguay.

Uair will begin operations in No-vember from Montevideo CarrascoAirport to destinations through-out Uruguay, Argentina and Bra-zil.

Under the agreement, Uair willoutsource its entire hub activity toSwissport in Montevideo, includ-ing commercial representationand ticket sales.

GOL has been warmly welcomed by the Brazilian market and has more than tripled itsfleet in two years.

GOL ■ Brazil’s low-cost pioneer

Going for GOL

density to and from each airport isgreater than those in the north. Swiss-port handles 800 flights per month atSantos Dumont alone.

Elsewhere, at a handful of stationswhere GOL operates only a lightschedule, contracts with the formersupplier were also cancelled and

awarded to local partner companies –all logistically supported by Swiss-port.

According to GOL, making theswitch was simply good business.“Wehave developed a very good relation-ship with Swissport and share thesame philosophy,” explains Tarcísio

Gargioni,VP Marketing and Servicesat GOL. “It is fundamental that wepartner with a good supplier andespecially one that can continouslygrow with us.”

GOL was particularly keen to workwith a true specialist in ground hand-ling and preferably one with inter-national expertise.“It was also impor-tant that Swissport was not connectedto any other airline, or competitor,”adds Gargioni.

Of course, Swissport had to movequickly in order to handle the extraflights. “We had to assume more orless simultaneously four new stationswith movements of between 12 and 25departures per day,” explains DieterAltenburger, Swissport’s EVP, LatinAmerica.

Altenburger also needed to source anadditional 250 staff, which proved awelcome opportunity to rehire manyof the employees previously lost

GOL was keen towork with a true

specialist inground handling.


With the arrival of a new VP, thelaunch of value-adding training ini-tiatives and continued expansionefforts, the Swissport ExecutiveAviation (SEA) business unit hasset itself some clear targets.

SEA HAS developed rapidly thanksto a strong entrepreneurial ethos anda strategic plan based on high brandrecognition, specialist in-house know-ledge and strong commitment to ser-vice. Since launching its first brandedFBO in Nice in February 2001, SEAhas expanded to serve VIP travellersat more than 60 airports around theworld.

A key development – and one thatopens the door to potential global col-

laboration – was the launch in May ofPrivatPort, a new executive handlingventure together with PrivatAir inGeneva.

Swissport already partners with onearm of PrivatAir’s parent group aspart of its Swissport Hellas commercialand executive aircraft handling opera-tion in Greece.

Unlike many airports, Geneva has ayear-round executive aviation clientelethanks to a combination of high-endbusiness and leisure travellers.

Following its inauguration of thePrivatPort brand, Geneva is consid-ered an “ambassador” station for therest of the network.

As such, the wider plan is to refine theoverall service model at Geneva andexport it around the network.

As SEA’s showcase station,Geneva isthe focus of several new service ini-tiatives, many of which will be coor-dinated by Alan George who joinedthe SEA business unit as VP on 1 Sep-tember.

A 20-year industry veteran, Georgearrives following a previous role asSales & Marketing Director for the

UK’s Harrods Aviation (formerlyMetro Business Aviation) – itself nowa SEA partner that operates as Har-rods Swissport Executive Aviation atLondon Heathrow.


S W I S S P O R T E X E C U T I V E AV I AT I O N

STRATEGY ■ Putting service first

EExxeeccuuttiivvee ddeecciissiioonnss

Y O U R C O N TA C T

Swissport Executive Aviation’s sole purpose is to serve the business avia-tion market on the ground – providing whatever it takes to make life easierfor passengers, crew and aircraft.

For more information, please contact:

Alan George VP Executive Aviation Phone:+44 7771 855 749 Fax: +41 1 811 10 01 [email protected]

For additional information,visit www.swissport-executive.com or see SEA’sown newsletter, High Flyers.

Strategic growth remains a key goal for SEA and there are plans to expand toadditional airports in the near future.

SEA’s aim is to serve clients all the way from home base to final destination.

Alan George: SEA’s new VP and a centralfigure in the unit’s business developmentplans.

George will be a central figure inSEA’s business development plans.His remit covers not only quality con-trol and a comprehensive customercare programme, but also implemen-tation of additional products such ascatering and into-plane fuelling.

SEA’s new VP will also oversee thelaunch of new service programmesthat range from the development ofcustomer-specific operating manualsto “silver service” training for man-agement and customer service agents.

Elsewhere, plans to develop morestandardised service levels across thenetwork continue. With presentationcrucial, this includes the sourcing of asleek new common uniform for allemployees.

Of course, strategic growth also re-mains a key goal and negotiations arein an advanced stage for additionalventures at several primary Europeanand Middle Eastern airports.

Ultimately, SEA plans to expand itsnetwork so that it can serve clientsevery step of the way from home baseto final destination.

Ludwig Bertsch

The strategic plan is based on high brand recognition, specialist in-house knowledge and strong

commitment to service.

As part of an ongoing rebrandingexercise, Swissport has created a new, standardised corporateidentity for its personnel aroundthe globe. Ensuring an exactingappearance is just one more waythat Swissport delivers value to itscustomers.

H O W E V E R smart and elegantthey may be, it is not the navy-blueskirts, trousers and jackets, or thewhite shirts and blouses of our uni-forms that truly catch the eye. It is the accessories that go with them.That is how our customers recognisea Swissport employee; and that iswhat they search for when seekingour assistance.

But creating uniform accessories is a tough and challenging task. Thepeople charged with the job arefaced with thousands of expert opin-ions from our customers and em-ployees, each of whom has a pretty

clear idea of their personal likes anddislikes.

The opportunities offered by a newcorporate appearance arouse desiresand demands for fashionable innova-tions, too: from casual to city wear andfrom classic to fantasy, anything goes

nowadays. But whether it suits a uni-form is another matter…

So, designing accessories for uni-formed staff is a delicate issue.And itis even harder when the companyconcerned is active worldwide. Assuch, the new items should not beinfluenced too heavily by a particularfashion trend: instead they should be

of a “timeless” design, as they will beexpected to serve for several years.

New accessories also need to findglobal acceptance among customersand employees of various culturesand origins – no easy task. In addition,they should be towards the top end

of the scale in terms of design, qualityand comfort. After all, a uniform is a reflection of the value top manage-ment attaches to its number-oneasset: its staff.

It is also a reflection of the qualityimage Swissport likes to present forand on behalf of its many airlinecustomers.

In view of these demanding criteria,it is understandable that Swissport

entrusted the design of its new uni-form accessories to one of the mostreputed companies in the business:Fabric Frontline, based in Zürich.Theresult – designed in Switzerland andsilk-printed in Italy – is a highly attract-ive product in terms of its design,colour and manufacturing quality. It isa product that conveys Swissport’sglobal corporate identity and designphilosophy and yet anyone lookingcarefully will also detect a discreteSwiss touch, too.

The makeover also includes a newname badge for Swissport staff, whichhas been created in matching formand carefully harmonised colours.The new items are also readilyavailable via a web-based link thatoffers all Swissport stations quick and

easy access to the UK-based manu-facturers.

By introducing these relatively smallmodifications, Swissport has deliver-ed a striking yet highly cost-efficientchange in its corporate identity thatably communicates the company’score values – quality, classic style andglobal appeal – to colleagues,partnersand customers around the world.

Peter Sturzenegger


C O R P O R AT E B R A N D I N G

NEW-LOOK ACCESSORIES ■ It’s the details that count

Keeping up appearances

Designing accessories for uniformed staff is a delicate issue.

And it is even harder when the company concerned is active

worldwide.

A uniform is a reflection of the value top management attaches to

its number-one asset: its staff.

The rebranded accessories provide a stylish new look for Swissport employees.


Swissport Executive Aviation

(.) = Number of airports served

FranceLilleLyonMarseilleMontpellierMulhouseNantesNiceParis (2)RouenStrasbourgToulouse

FranceLilleLyonMarseilleMontpellierMulhouseNantesNiceParis (2)RouenStrasbourgToulouse

London

Guadalajara

Denver

Porto AlegreFlorianopolis

Calgary

São Paulo (3)

Buenos Aires (2)

San Fernando

Rio de Janeiro (2)

New York (5)Rockford

K E Y F I G U R

Number of Number of Annual revMetric tonnPassengers

N E T W O R K

Some of the more than 650 customers served bySwissport International around the world

Adria AirwaysAegean Cronus AirlinesAer LingusAero LloydAeroflot Russian Intl. AirlinesAerolíneas ArgentinasAeromexicoAir 2000Air AlfaAir AlgérieAir CanadaAir ChinaAir EuropeAir FranceAir IndiaAir Jamaica Ltd.Air LittoralAir MaltaAir MauritiusAir SeychellesAir Tanzania Air Transat A.T. Inc.Alaska AirlinesAlitaliaAll Nippon AirwaysAmerica West Airlines Inc.American Airlines Inc.American Trans Air Inc.AnatoliaArizona Fueling FacilitiesArkia Israeli Airlines Ltd.Asiana AirlinesAtlas Air Inc.Austrian AirlinesAviancaBAX Global Inc.Belair Airlines AGBiman Bangladesh AirlinesBoston Fueling CorporationBritish AirwaysCargolux Airlines InternationalCathay Pacific AirwaysChina Airlines Ltd.China Eastern Airlines

Cielos AirlinesCondor Flugdienst GmbHCongo AirlinesContinental Airlines Inc.Copa AirlinesCroatia AirlinesCSA – Czech AirlinesCyprus AirwaysDAT Nv / SaDelta Air Lines Inc.DHL Worldwide ExpressEasyJet Switzerland S.A.EgyptairEl Al Israel Airlines Ltd.Emery Worldwide Airlines Inc.EmiratesEthiopian AirlinesEva Airways CorporationFederal Express CorporationFinnairFort Myers Fuel CommitteeFreebird Airlines A.S.Ghana AirwaysGOL Transportes AéreosGulf AirIberiaIcelandairJapan Airlines Co. Ltd.JAT – Jugoslav AirlinesKLM Royal Dutch AirlinesKorean AirKTHY – Kibris Türk Hava YolariKuwait AirwaysLacsaLAN Chile S.A.Lauda AirLibyan Arab AirlinesLOT – Polish Airlines S.A.LTU International AirwaysLufthansaMaersk AirMalaysian Airline SystemMalev – Hungarian AirlinesMartinair Holland

MEA – Middle East AirlinesMesa AirlinesMexicana AirlinesMNG AirlinesNippon Cargo AirlinesNorth American Airlines Inc.Northwest Airlines Inc.Oakland Fuel FacilitiesOlympic AirwaysOrlando Sanford InternationalPegasusPIA – Pakistan Intern. AirlinesQantas Airways Ltd.Qatar AirwaysRoyal Air MarocRoyal JordanianSaudi Arabian AirlinesScandinavian Airlines SystemSingapore AirlinesSkymasterSouth African AirwaysSouthwest Airlines CoSpanair S.A.SriLanka Airlines Ltd.Swiss International Air LinesSwiss WorldCargoSyrianairTACA International Airlines SATAP – Air PortugalTaromThai Airways InternationalTunisairTurkish AirlinesUnited AirlinesUnited Parcel ServiceUS AirwaysVarig – Brazilian AirlinesVirgin Atlantic Airways Ltd.Virgin ExpressVolare Airlines SpAWorld Airways Inc.


GermanyBerlin (2)CologneDresdenDusseldorfFrankfurtHamburgHanoverMunichNurembergStuttgart

Germany

CologneDresden

MunichNuremberg

(3)

BelgiumAntwerpBrusselsLiege

BelgiumAntwerpBrusselsLiege

Luxembourg

Milan (2)

Nevsehir MumbaiMumbai

R E S F O R 2 0 0 3 S W I S S P O R T

customers over 650employees over 18,000

enue USD 875,000,000es handled 3,000,000handled per year 60,000,000

N E T W O R K

Latest contracts signed

Athens Aigle Azur, Air Malta, Hellas Jet, THAIAirways International

Austin MexicanaBariloche LAN ChileBasel Cargolux, GermaniaBuenos Aires LufthansaCancún Aeris, Air Europe, Blue Panorama,

Iberworld, LTU, SobelairCape Town KLMCaracas Air EuropeChicago Alitalia, Aviacsa, Qantas, Pakistan

International Airlines,United Airlines Cargo

Curitiba GOL Transportes AéreosDenver United Airlines CargoFlorianopolis GOL Transportes AéreosFortaleza Futura Airlines, MartinairGeneva Baboo Airlines, Hapag Lloyd Express, LOT,

MalevHonolulu Delta AirlinesJohannesburg Air Seychelles, Cargolux, Lufthansa Cargo,

KLMLa Romana Pullmantur AirLas Vegas Airtran Airways, Allegro Air, Champion AirLondon Heathrow Hellas Jet, Saudi Arabian Airlines, El Al,

Turkish Airlines CargoLos Angeles United Airlines CargoManchester Iberia CargoMexico City America West, Atlas Air, LufthansaMiami United Airlines Cargo Nairobi Air TanzaniaNewark United Airlines CargoNew York / JFK Air Jamaica, Air Santo Domingo, Avianca,

Singapore AirlinesNew York / LGA United Airlines CargoPorto Alegre GOL Transportes AéreosRio, Santos Dumont GOL Transportes AéreosSan Francisco Philippine Airlines, World Airways, United

Airlines CargoSeattle Assiana, Hawaiian AirThessaloniki FinnairToulouse easyJetWashington / IAD Airtran Airways, British Midland Cargo,

United Airlines CargoVienna Air Berlin, Germania Zürich Germania, Hellas Jet


D I V I S I O N A L H E A D S

REGIONAL FOCUS ■ Checking the industry pulse

Divisional Q&AWith a network that spans the globe, Swissport units are exposed to avariety of – often fluctuating – markets. Here, Swissport’s divisionalheads outline some of the strategic targets and operational challengesfaced in their specific regions.

Questions: Stephan Beerli

John Mc Donagh

Erich Bodenmann

Dieter Altenburger

Urs Sieber

Willy Hallauer

European entities, although oftenserved by the same carriers, differconsiderably with respect to localoperating conditions, environmentallaws and local (country) workingpractises.

The takeover and integration ofCargo Service Center gave Swiss-port’s operation a wider Europeangeographical handling scope. Marketawareness of Swissport’s product wasthus enhanced. The general per-ception is of good quality and localmanagement that is geared towardscarriers’ local needs.

The accessible market is liberalisedand therefore saturated and verycompetitive, but the majority of theground handling is still done and pro-tected by domestic carriers. We servemany of the international airlines atUS gateways, but have recently beenable to increase our market sharewith domestic carriers,also by startingmore operations at 2nd tier airports.

We currently work in eight differentLatin American countries, each ofwhich has very different characteris-tics. We encounter everything fromsevere competition (Brazil, Mexico)to moderate competition (Peru,Venezuela) to near exclusivity(Dominican Republic, NetherlandsAntilles). As such, we have to adoptdifferent strategies for each market.

Swissport is well positioned in NorthAmerica with operations at morethan 50 airports and a broad range ofservice lines. This also includes air-craft maintenance, into-plane fuellingand the maintenance and operationof fuel farms. We are perceived as agood “value for money” service pro-vider in all areas.

Swissport has a reputation as areliable business partner in thesemarkets.

Since 2001, Switzerland has become ashrinking market. Swissair’s down-fall reduced the volume drastically.Meanwhile, the expansion of low-costairlines has been remarkable.

Swissport is solidly installed with alarge and loyal customer base atZürich, Geneva and Basel airports.In partnership with airport authori-ties, Swissport continues to partici-pate fully in terms of improvingprocesses and systems.

This large market varies from mon-opoly situations to areas where there is strong competition. The growthfigures in the region for the immedi-ate future range from 3% to 7% forcargo and passenger air travel. Low-cost carriers have started to penetratethe market more or less all over theworld and are now giving traditionalairlines a hard time.

Our presence is not yet very strong inAsia and the Middle East, but weknow from many of our customersthat Swissport is being actively en-couraged to offer our quality servicesat many more airports across theregion. Most airlines are in favour ofhaving just one ground handling part-ner to deal with whenever possible.

21What is Swissport’s position and customer perception within that market?

How would you characterisethe regional market that you serve?

Asiamiddle East +africa

switzerland

latinamerica

northamerica

europe


D I V I S I O N A L H E A D S

It is definitely a cost factor, not justfor the carrier, but also the serviceprovider. Our discussions with car-riers lead along the lines of where canwe save for both sides, improve theproduct and ensure quality remainshigh. It is a two-way street.

To bring the present business port-folio back to normal after the down-turn. To expand the current businesspackage with a more varied productportfolio. To conduct an EasternEurope study, plus revisit developingthe Netherlands and Scandinavianmarkets. Finally, to revaluate opera-tional procedures and productivitylines.

There are three: countering the con-tinued (national) airport dominationof handling; the possible impact ofnew or planned airline alliances onour ability to meet customers’ needs;and continuing to be a cost-effectiveorganisation in light of a generaltrend to drastically reduce costs byour clients.

More flexibility in being able to con-tract Europe-wide for our clients,plusa real move towards becoming theindustry’s preferred service provider.

Airline requirements in terms of ser-vice levels expected have not changedsignificantly. However, when yourcustomers are, in many instances,fighting for survival, cost has becomean even more important, if not exclu-sive, focus.

With the current crisis in aviationworldwide, and Latin America inparticular, reliability for some air-lines has become less important thanprice.

Our short-term targets are to workwith our customers to overcome theimpact of SARS, the Iraq War, thepost-9/11 malaise and the overallsluggish global economy. We alsowant to be available for our cus-tomers at as many of their stations as possible and provide whateverservices are required.

In locations where Swissport is stillsmall, we intend to achieve criticalmass through organic growth. Inplaces where we are dominant, weplan to defend our position andfurther enhance profitability.We alsoaim to achieve growth through diver-sification of services, such as cargoand executive aviation handling.

Challenges include improving ourproductivity further and keeping ourcosts low despite the fact that somecost elements beyond our direct con-trol continue to rise. We must alsomaintain quality levels and, in doingso, help our customers through thesedifficult times.

In some countries we face predatorycompetition, which is not healthy forthe market, as well as archaic labourlaws, which can limit our ability toimprove staff productivity. The eco-nomic climate is such that our clientsare used to getting discounts and so itwill be difficult to enforce inflation-related price adjustments.

I hope that the trend of domesticcarriers outsourcing more of theirground handling activity continues.It gives us the critical mass even atsmaller airports and allows a morecost-efficient operation. Overall, ourhope is to see a market where ourpartners thrive and where we canshare in the good times as we haveshared in the bad.

It has been a terrible year for aviationworldwide and for Latin America,in particular. However, we are cau-tiously optimistic that 2004 will atleast not be worse.Also, industry fore-casts from IATA point to moderategrowth figures for the future.

Cost has become a very dominantissue, particularly in Switzerlandwhere costs have traditionally beenhigh. Dedicated systems and airline-oriented solutions are becomingstandard. It is also common for airlinecustomers to shop around.

We want to grow our business mainlyby expanding our product line. Wemust also further reduce our internalcosts for the benefit of customers.Finally, a reliable and predictablequality performance is a must.

Having had almost no natural growthover the last two years is certainly abig handicap. In addition, we sufferfrom the consequence of oversizedairport infrastructures, which createsa financial burden for the entireindustry. However, the new collab-oration with SWISS is a very promisingdevelopment.

New airline segments, such as low-cost carriers, have different productneeds that justify lower cost struc-tures. As such, airport operators willneed to create separate infrastructurethat will allow handling agents toachieve cheaper process costs. Todate, only 2nd tier airports haveadopted such a segmented approach.

Many of our customer airlines areunder tremendous cost pressure. As a consequence, they expect us asservice providers to make price con-cessions, but still maintain the samequality standard. We are challengedto offer more flexible solutions thanin the past at reasonable prices.

We must aim for organic growth andconsistency to offer all service prod-uct lines wherever possible. We mustalso extend our capabilities and offera wider range of services. Finally,we need to maintain or improve ourquality standards.

To convince airlines that Swissporthas the capability and know-how tomanage a handling organisation attheir hub. To be able to provide aglobal service network which is con-sistent in service capability as well asin quality. Also, to set the one-stop-shopping concept in motion aroundthe world.

Ideally,getting a foothold in the Asianand Middle East markets where weare not yet present and to develop theSwissport network step by step. Wewill extend our presence in countriesor regions where we have operationstoday by adding more stations, whichcan be managed from the existingorganisation in that country.

3 4 5 6Outline the key challenges facing Swissport in your region

Finally, what changes doyou expect, or hope, to see in your region?

What targets have you setfor the short to medium term?

How have airline requirementschanged in your part of theworld – is it all just about cost?


A I R P O R T P O R T R A I T

AIRPORTS ■ Ground handling management

Schiphol’s ground control

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, whichoperates one of the most liberalisedhandling environments in Europe,takes a hands-on approach to moni-toring ground handling price, qual-ity and operational safety.

W I T H three major competitorairports within an 800-mile radius,Amsterdam Schiphol’s status as a keyEuropean hub relies on providing asattractive an operating climate for itsairline customers as possible.

And Schiphol has long understoodthat part of its attractiveness is depend-ent on offering a first-class groundhandling environment. For Schiphol,this means allowing competition toflourish, but not at the expense ofsafety or service quality.

Today, the airport hosts five full-service ground handlers and six spe-cialist cargo handlers (see sidebar,Com-peting interests), as well as a variety ofniche operators providing ancillaryground services.

Although a challenge, getting the mix right is crucial. “If, for example,baggage does not get delivered on time, it usually reflects on the airportrather than the handler or even theairline,” explains Bastiaan Geurts,Director,Account and Contract Man-agement at Schiphol.

“As such, it is of utmost importancefor us to facilitate an attractive hand-ling environment.”

The Schiphol approach focuses onproviding a fair, unbiased approach

for all players in the market; encour-aging competition between serviceproviders, albeit with a healthy mar-ket share for each;ensuring an attract-ive price/quality trade-off; providingoutstanding airport facilities; andfacilitating frequent communicationbetween all players concerned.

Although the airport operates anopen market for handlers, it does re-quire service providers to meet cer-tain criteria – not least the need for allhandlers to have a safety manage-

ment system in place that can beaudited.

“In addition, it is obligatory to jointhe airport community’s joint initia-tive to prevent unsafe situations fromdeveloping,” says Geurts.

While Geurts is confident that hand-ling competition has not compromised

safety standards at Schiphol, he ac-knowledges that such competition hasat times placed extreme pressure onprice. Handling rates have now largelystabilised, he says, but “airlines areclearly driven by their focus on costand have benefited from competition”.

Of course, the danger is that as hand-ling rates tumble so, too, does thequality of service. One of the pointsraised in the 2002 SH&E report onthe liberalisation of Europe’s ground

FA S T FA C T S

■ Amsterdam Schiphol was the world’s 9th busiest airport in 2002 with 40.7 million passengers

■ In 2002, Schiphol handled 1.24 million tonnes of cargo, giving it a worldranking of 14

■ Some 40% of all passengers at Schiphol are transferring to otherdestinations

■ The industry slowdown saw passenger figures drop 3.2% to nearly 18.5million passengers during the first half of 2003

■ Despite the slowdown, cargo volumes jumped 3.8% to 630,525 tonnesduring the first half of 2003.

handling market (see Swissreporter,Issue 11) was that higher standards ofservice could be achieved if airportsadopted a more proactive role in set-ting and monitoring quality standards.

Geurts could not agree more andplaces great emphasis on developingopen lines of communication with theairport’s handling community.

Schiphol hosts frequent meetingswith airlines and handlers, duringwhich all players are able to discussoperational, tactical and strategicissues relating to safety, security,capacity and service quality.

Influencing standardsAfter some false starts, progress oninfluencing handling quality is nowbeing made, reports Geurts. Severalyears ago, the airport approachedSchiphol’s ground handlers to discuss

“Airlines are clearly driven bytheir focus on cost and have benefited

from the competition.”Bastiaan Geurts

Schiphol sees a huge volume of transferbaggage each year.

There is strong competition in refuellingand other ancillary service areas.


A I R P O R T P O R T R A I T

C O M P E T I N G I N T E R E S T S

Amsterdam Schiphol operates ahighly competitive ground hand-ling environment and hosts fiveramp handlers and six cargo hand-lers (excluding airlines that self-handle):

Ramp■ KLM Ground Services■ Martinair■ Aviapartner■ Menzies■ GlobeGround

Cargo■ Aero Ground Services■ Airport Cargo■ Menzies World Cargo■ KLM Cargo■ SKYLINK■ Avia Trading

Perishables■ Freshport

Almost 41 million passengers travelled through Amsterdam Schiphol in 2002.

setting up quality standards, butquickly discovered that it was talkingto the wrong people. The messagefrom handlers was that they wereonly working according to the wishesof customer carriers.

As such, the airport turned its at-tention to influencing the qualitystandards that carriers put into their handling contracts.

“We have been very proactive in thismatter, but have yet to find a way toget airlines to sign up to an agree-ment,” says Geurts.

The main obstacle is that the airporthas no formal relationship with its air-lines, aside from the usual landingcharge arrangements. In addition, thereality is that airports and airlineswork to very different timescales,which makes life difficult when dis-cussing infrastructure developmentand other issues that impact groundhandling.

able to forecast long-term demandand tend to take a shorter-term view.Finding common ground somewherein the middle is no easy task.

However, one example of successfulcollaboration can be seen in baggagehandling – an operation that Geurtsadmits needs to improve at the airport.

Earlier this year, the airport facilitat-ed a meeting during which the issue ofinter-handler transfer baggage hand-ling, a particular problem area, wasdiscussed and a solution implementedin May.

“We now have a dedicated, airport-funded team, known as the BaggageInter Handler Group (BIHG), whichhands baggage from one handler toanother,” explains Geurts.

“Initial results are good and we arenow carrying out our first full evalua-tion.”

Today, Geurts reports much moreconstructive dialogue within the com-munity and genuine momentum interms of working together.

Although he admits there is no magicformula for success, Geurts again

stresses the power of communication.“Every airport has its own charac-

While airports usually need to planahead many years, airlines are rarely

“We now have a dedicated,airport-funded team, known

as the Baggage Inter Handler Group,which hands baggage from one

handler to another.”Bastiaan Geurts

teristics, although I do believe thatfrequent and open communicationbetween the stakeholders is vital,” hesays.

“Understanding each other’s inter-ests is the basis for close cooperationand the beginning of possible agree-ments between all parties.”

Richard Rowe

Bastiaan Geurts: “It is of utmost importancefor us to facilitate an attractive handlingenvironment.”

Although passenger numbers at Schiphol dropped during the first half of 2003, cargo volumes continued to grow at a healthy rate.


S W I S S P O R T C A R G O S E R V I C E S

US ■ United warehouse transition

Moving mountains

Following on from previous cam-paigns, Unitpool has launched itslatest initiative to increase globalawareness of the need to reduceULD damage.

U N I T P O O L H A S developed aseries of stickers (pictured) that serveas a valuable visual reminder of theneed to take care when handling ULDs.The stickers, which can be placed onpallets and containers, clearly illus-trate the costly damage that can occur.

“Everyone is aware of the costs anddisruption to airline operations caused

U L D M A N A G E M E N T

UNITPOOL ■ Awareness campaigns

Damage limitationhelp the airline industry tackle thisproblem whenever possible.”

As Veslov explains, Unitpool is notonly placing the stickers on its ownULDs, but also offering them free ofcharge to any airline that forwards arequest.Airlines such as Varig,VirginAtlantic, Dragonair and DHL havealready requested and received stick-ers.

“The more airlines that participate,the better the global coverage weshall realise in again raising the issueof ULD damage,” says Veslov.

To obtain free ULD damage aware-ness stickers, contact Jorgen Veslovat: [email protected] or visit:www.unitpool.com.

Philip Hill

by ULD damage,” explains JorgenVeslov, who is responsible for qualityassurance at Unitpool.“Our aim is to

Jorgen Veslov: Promoting awareness.

In what proved a massive under-taking for both organisations, Unit-ed Cargo has transitioned 80% ofits total US warehouse operationsto Swissport Cargo Services (SCS).

IN JULY, United Cargo announcedplans to outsource warehouse hand-ling operations at nearly 50 locationsacross the US. After receiving anattractive proposition from the Swiss-port executive team, the carrierawarded eight stations – six of themhubs – to SCS.

Although gaining a small number ofstations, the fact that six were huboperations meant that SCS securedthe majority of United Cargo’s do-mestic business.

“No US airline has done this at any ofits hubs, so it is a huge move not justfor United, but also for the widerindustry,”explains Roel Schrijer,SCS’sproject manager for the transition.

While the scale of the undertakingproved a challenge, so too did thesheer speed; as agreed with unionchiefs, the transfer from airline tohandler had to be achieved in justthree months.

However, the SCS regional team –headed by David Abe (West Coast),

Jerry Finn (East Coast) and DennyBertelli (Midwest) – worked tireless-ly together with an internal SCS sup-port team to make it happen.

“The speed of the transition was pri-marily driven by cost,” explains LarryMurphy, Manager Cargo OperationsPlanning at United Cargo.“As Unitedworks through its transformationplan, the cost savings from outsourc-ing all of the major stations truly bene-fits us in the proceedings throughChapter 11.”

The first station to transition wasDenver (July 13) – a new location for

SCS – followed by Newark andLaGuardia (both July 27), Washing-ton Dulles and Miami (August 10),Los Angeles (August 24), Chicago(September 5) and, finally, San Fran-cisco (September 13).

After completing the Denver hand-over, the SCS and United teams wereable to work on a raft of processesthat could be rolled out during thetransfer elsewhere. In doing so, SCSquickly discovered just how exactingUnited’s handling requirements were.

Of course, staffing has proved themost important element in the whole

process, not least the integration ofUnited personnel with new facesfrom elsewhere.

Seamless transitionNow, says Schrijer, the primary goal isto ensure that the transition of United’spredominantly self-handling businessremains seamless; after all, nothing ismore critical to United than thefreight moving through its hubs.

Once bedded in, the SCS team willreview every process to explore whereadditional efficiencies and cost reduc-tions can be made.United, for its part,will continue to measure resultsthrough customer feedback and itsown internal Cargo PerformanceIndex.

“We have the utmost confidence thatSwissport will meet our expecta-tions,” says Murphy, who reports thata 98% service reliability factor hasalready been reached after the initialramp-up period.

“So far, customer satisfaction is highand must remain so, but this is reallyonly the beginning,” adds Schrijer.

Steve Tamm

United Cargo has transitioned its warehouse handling at eight stations across the US.


■ S W I S S P O R TI N T E R N AT I O N A L

Management changesSwissport is pleased to announce sev-eral important staff appointments. InEurope, Simon Lehmann has steppeddown as CEO of Swissport Greece totake up a new position as CEO of theSwissport Germany Group, based inFrankfurt. He also assumes overallresponsibility for Sales & MarketingEurope.

Stepping in to the vacated CEO posi-tion in Greece is Phil McGrane. Philis a new arrival at Swissport andbrings extensive international busi-ness experience to the post.

In the US, Armin Unternährer hastraded his head office position inbusiness development for a post asnew Vice President West Coast. InSwitzerland, Lothar Kilchenmannhas joined Swissport Zürich as Headof Sales & Business Development.Lothar returns to the organisationhaving previously been with Swiss-port Germany and most recently atSWISS International Air Lines, wherehe served as a business controller.

International training concept, whichis designed to stimulate decentral-isation and promote local responsi-bility.

Jacques Sermet

Humanitarian effortsSwissport Kenya has added the Inter-national Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) as an important new cus-tomer in Nairobi.The ICRC operatestwo vintage DC-3s that have beenmodified and fitted with turbo propengines, allowing payload of morethan three tonnes,and one Beechcraft1900, with a payload of two tonnes.

Operating in combi configuration,the aircraft are used mainly to ferry medical equipment and reliefsupplies to war-torn parts of Easternand Central Africa, such as theDemocratic Republic of Congo andSomalia. Swissport Kenya is proud

to make this small contribution tohumanitarian efforts.

Christian Zweifel

■ G E R M A N Y

Race night Earlier this year, the Swissport Ger-many management team celebratedits award of a major contract fromFinnair by inviting representativesfrom its new customer to an eveningof go-cart racing.

This was probably a mistake. True to national form, the Finns won every race, with Bjorn Knutar, AreaManager Ground Operations, inparticular, proving unbeatable!

Although losing out on four wheels,the Swissport Germany team con-soled themselves with thoughts of the three-year, five-station contractfrom Finnair.The deal covers passen-ger, operations and ticketing servicesat Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Munich,Berlin-Tegel and Hamburg airports.

The arrival of Finnair not only boostsoverall sales for Swissport Germany,but also confirms the Munich station,in particular, as a rapidly developingpillar of the German operation.

Hans-Rudolph Moser

NNeettwwoorrkk NNeewwss aanndd VViieewwss■ B U S I N E S S S E G M E N T S

Executive aviation andsecurityAlan George, formerly Sales &Marketing Director for HarrodsAviation Limited (previously knownas Metro Business Aviation), joinedSwissport’s growing Executive Avia-tion segment as Vice President onSeptember 1 (see business unit report on page eight).

Swissport is also delighted to havesecured the services of MalcolmMackay as Vice President for theaviation security segment, which isalso growing in importance. Malcolmhas more than a dozen years securityexperience following a variety ofpositions in the airline sector (seereport on page five).

Stephan Beerli

■ K E N YA

Trainers empowerKenyan operationFollowing an initial training session in2002, Swissport Kenya made animportant second step earlier thisyear towards taking full control ofmanager training.

Using local talent and help fromSwissport Geneva trainers, OlavEvert and Christian Zweifel organ-ised two leadership tools workshopsin Nairobi. The first session was con-ducted by Jacques Sermet, with thesecond taken on by Xavier Barassa –both trainers from Geneva.

During the workshops, SwissportKenya staff received all the necessarymaterial and trainer guides to repro-duce the workshop for themselves inthe future. Nairobi is the secondoverseas unit – the first being Swiss-port Hellas – to apply the Swissport

S W I S S P O R T W O R L D W I D E

SimonLehmann

Swissport Kenya staff take a break inbetween workshop sessions.

Phil McGrane

The ICRC flies aid into troubled parts ofEastern and Central Africa.

Starter’s orders: The Swissport Germanyand Finnair teams ready for action!

stone listing on the Dar es SalaamStock Exchange (DSE).

DAHACO is the first company inTanzania under the Ministry of Com-munications and Transport, and in theservice industry, to be listed on thestock market.

Hon Professor Mark Mwandosya, theMinister for Communications andTransport, who attended the launch,urged the capital markets and DSE tocontinue educating companies to belisted in order to tap their hiddenpotential – a point highlighted by theoversubscription of DAHACO sharesby more than 526%!

Neindiwe J. Kivaria

■ S W I T Z E R L A N D

Eurojet makesBasel debutEurojet, a new French charter airline,made its first appearance in Basel inSeptember with its newly refurbishedand immaculately clean B737-400with 170 economy seats. The carrier’s

winter timetable envisages five week-ly departures to a variety of short-haul destinations.

In addition, and to cover the long-haul charter segment, Eurojet plansto introduce from November 1 aB767-300 aircraft with 300 economyseats. The aircraft will fly six times aweek to destinations such as Forta-leza, Cancún, Colombo, Male, PuertoPlata, La Romana and Varadero.

The whole Swissport Basel teamwishes Eurojet good luck and thanksthe carrier for its business.

Martin Brügger

■ S O U T H A F R I C A

Record breakersOn July 1, Swissport South Africahelped handle British Airways intothe record books when BA flight 3594took off from Johannesburg carrying


S A D FS W I S S P O R T W O R L D W I D E

Rock and roll handlingIt is not every day that a handlingteam has to take care of the needs ofone of the world’s most famous rockbands, but that’s exactly what Swiss-port Germany had to contend with inHanover recently when the RollingStones arrived to play a gig in the city.

After hours of coordinating specialhandling arrangements, such as VIPtransport, and working to satisfy theendless needs of security, TV crewsand event managers, the day itselfdawned.

First to land was a B757 carryingCharlie Watts, Keith Richards and the Stones entourage. They werefollowed 25 minutes later by a privatejet carrying Ron Wood and his wife.Moments later a second jet arrivedand out stepped the main man – Mick Jagger.

This really was a highlight, particular-ly after all the discussion, coordina-tion and negotiations that had takenplace during preceding days. All par-ties concerned, from event managersto flight operators,appreciated Swiss-port’s professional handling and theassistance provided by our opera-tional staff.

Irene Grell

■ U L D M A N A G E M E N T

Belgian carrier turns toUnitpoolHaving already cooperated for morethan a year, SN Brussels Airlines andUnitpool have recently signed a new,long-term contract for the provisionof comprehensive ULD control andpooling services.

“When we started our long-haul opera-tions in April 2002 we turned to Unit-pool for help with ULD services,” saidGuy Hardy, Cargo Manager at SN

Brussels Airlines.“At very short noticethey were able to provide the ULDswe required and have done so eversince.”

Importantly for what was essentially a start-up carrier, this arrangementmeant that SN Brussels Airlines did notneed to purchase its own ULDs.

“In concluding a five-year contractwith Unitpool we are committing to acontinuance of our cooperation forthe foreseeable future,”added Hardy.

Philip Hill

■ TA N Z A N I A

DAHACO listedon stock exchange On June 3, Swissport partner com-pany DAHACO celebrated its mile-

Sabena Cargo’s Guy Hardy (left) shakeshands on the deal with Unitpool CEOPhilip Hill.

Mick Jagger faces the press on arrival in Hanover.

its largest load since the carrier beganits wet-leased freighter programme adecade ago.

The aircraft carried freight to Vito-ria (in northern Spain) and LondonStansted, with a technical stop inAccra. Overall, the freight andULDs transported weighed a total of126,710 kg – just 240 kg under themaximum permitted weight for theroute and just over a tonne less thanthe maximum permitted for the air-craft type.

Sean Kinsey

■ U K

New BRS for Heathrow

An order for a new Baggage Recon-ciliation System (BRS) at LondonHeathrow will soon mean big changesfor Swissport’s operations, baggageand gate room staff.

The Heathrow Airline OperationsCommittee has placed an order for anew computerised baggage system tohelp meet new aviation security re-quirements. One major benefit forstaff will be more accurate, and there-fore speedier, location of baggage inthe event that passengers fail to boardtheir flight. This is good news in termsof minimising departure delays.

The training department is about tobegin a series of “train the trainer”courses before starting its own in-house training programme.

Sanae German

Swissport South Africa’s BA freighter teamrelax after their exertions.

Eurojet has contracted Swissport for its handling at Basel.

Tanzania’s Minister for Communicationsand Transport, Hon Professor Mark Mwan-dosya, rings the opening bell at the DSE.


S A D FS W I S S P O R T W O R L D W I D E

News Ticker✈

✈ B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T C A N A D AFor the second year in a row, Swissport Cargo Services in Toronto

achieved 100% on its National Audit from UPS Cargo. It is not commonfor a cargo handler to achieve this kind of ranking two years running andRichard Cuss, International Gateway Manager for UPS Cargo in Toronto,described the accomplishment as “amazing”.

G E R M A N YOn July 1, the name of the Swissport partner company Aerogate

Stuttgart GmbH changed to S.Stuttgart Ground Services GmbH (SGS).The company, which is owned by Flughafen Stuttgart (51%) andSwissport (49%), offers passenger and ticketing services.

S O U T H A M E R I C AAfter living off seasonal charter traffic and occasional executive

aircraft for long periods, Swissport Chile has secured LANChile as a regularcustomer in August. Swissport now handles the carrier’s twice-weeklyB737 Santiago–Bariloche–Puerto Mont–Santiago flight.

U S ASwissport Cargo Services (SCS) LP has welcomed Singapore

Airlines and Austrian Airlines as inaugural customers at the recentlyopened Building 21, a new facility at New York JFK. Elsewhere, in Miami,SCS has also begun cargo warehouse services for KLM in a new facility.

Swissport CFE has begun handling operations for BAX Global atRockford, Illinois, and for Menlo (formerly Emery) in Newburgh, New York.

In August 2003, Swissport USA opened three new stationsproviding passenger services for Aeromexico at Fort Lauderdale andramp handling for Mexicana at Oakland and San Jose.

Honolulu has joined Anchorage and San Francisco as the thirdSwissport USA station to become FAR 145 certified for performingaircraft maintenance.

M E X I C OCSC Mexico has begun a new cargo operation in Cancún for

Leisure Cargo, representing LTU, AirEurope, Sobelair and Iberworld.

S W I T Z E R L A N DOn September 22, Swissport Geneva was proud to handle Hapag-

Lloyd Express’s inaugural daily flight from Cologne. The airline, whichlaunched the route using a B737-700, is the first German low-cost carrierto serve Geneva.

✈ AWA R D SMiascor has received a hat-trick of commendations: Qatar

Airways awarded Manila the “Most Outstanding Station Per-formance Award” for its entire network; Silk Air handed over the award for the Best Service Provider in 2002 to VASCOR Cebu, a subsidiary company of Miascor; and, finally, the ManilaRamp Operations Department was awarded as one of FedEx’s Top Ramps of the Year for fiscal year 2003 – an award that is only

g given to five international ramp departments within the company.

Meanwhile, in Tanzania, Emirates informed DAHACO that itsDar es Salaam station had scooped the carrier’s runners-up award for punctuality in division two for the period ending April 2003.In addition, during a gala dinner to inaugurate the carrier’s dailyfrequencies into Tanzania, DAHACO was awarded a special “Groundhandling agent appreciation award for continuous support 2002/2003”.Congratulations to both Miascor and DAHACO for these impressiveawards.

Singapore Airlines recently awarded Swissport Johannesburg the accolade of most improved station with the least complaints for itslatest monitoring period. Bryan Koh, the new Station Manager inJohannesburg, hosted a special cocktail party as a thank you to staffinvolved with the Singapore Airlines operation.

✈ I S O 9 0 0 1 C E R T I F I C AT I O N SBerlin Schönefeld has successfully passed the external ISO 9001

certification audited by TÜV.

■ Feedback

Editor’s note:We are always delighted to highlight positive feedback and include in this issuecomments from a Cargolux Station Manager to Colin Baldwin, GeneralManager, Swissport Cargo Services South Africa, expressing his thanks for a jobwell done on handling a very sensitive cargo – 11 elephants being relocated onspecial charters to their new homes in Tampa and San Diego.

Dear Colin,I enclose the email receipt from our customer, ref the charter last week. Myspecial and particular thanks to Tony, Arnold and Jacques, plus the ware-house team, for working through the coldest night of the year.

It was difficult work and required patience and precision yet we as theCSC-CV team pulled it off. Everything fitted, all palletised well andaccording to regulations. The flight left on time and as you see the cargoarrived in good condition.

So, a big thank you from us all at Cargolux Airlines.

Kind regardsStuart GowStation Manager – JohannesburgCargolux Airlines International S.A.

As mentioned by Stuart Gow above, Cargolux’s customer on the project –zoo consultants F.J. Zeehandelaar, Inc – was extremely pleased with theoverall team effort, as this extract from their thank you note reveals:

“All 11 elephants arrived safely at both final zoo destinations in Tampa andSan Diego and are happily in their new homes. I want to compliment in thehighest and most glowing terms every station chief, all the ground staffs, thepilots and Cargolux as a company. I could not be more pleased and satis-fied with how everything went. To say that Cargolux and its people are thebest I have ever dealt with would be a gross understatement.”

■ C A R I B B E A N

Double CaribbeancelebrationThe former CSC operation in Arubarecently celebrated not only theunveiling of a new logo and name –Swissport Cargo Services – but alsothe long service of eight employeeswho have each been with the compa-ny for 25 years.

The eight special employees areAstrid Ridderstaat, Ulrich Ponson,Robbio di Vecchia, Richard Rosel,Leonard Celaire, Benny D’Aguiar,Juliano Boekhoudt and Jenny deCuba. A special party celebrating

200 years of service followed theofficial logo unveiling ceremony.

In a second ceremony, this time at theformer CSC operation in Curaçao,the newly named Swissport Cargo Ser-vices team was joined by the HonoraryConsul of Switzerland to help unveilthe new logo. To mark the occasion alarge part of the warehouse was deckedout with balloons and Swissport ban-ners. Fittingly, the catering was as Swissas possible.

Gerhard Goselink

Raising a glass: Gerhard Goselink andMeredith Meulens from SCS celebrate to-gether with Mike Koch, Honorary Consulof Switzerland, plus Cesar Prince, Com-mercial Executive Vice President, andCEO Mario Evertz from hub customer,Dutch Caribbean Airlines.

Merle Howell, HR Manager, and GerhardGoselink, General Manager, hand over aspecial “jubilee” cheque to Astrid Ridder-staat for 25 years service.


H E A D O F F I C ESwissport International Ltd., Joseph In Albon,President & CEO, P.O. Box, CH-8058 Zürich-Airport, [email protected],tel. +41 43 812 2779, fax +41 1 811 1001

Swissport International Ltd., Stephan Beerli,EVP Marketing & Sales,P.O. Box, CH-8058 Zürich-Airport,[email protected],tel. +41 43 812 4950, fax +41 1 811 1001

Swissport International Ltd., Andreas Bühlmann,EVP & Chief Financial Officer,P.O. Box, CH-8058 Zürich-Airport,[email protected],tel. +41 43 812 4255, fax +41 1 811 1001

Swissport International Ltd., Dr. Ludwig Bertsch, EVP Corporate & Head Cargo Services, P.O. Box,CH-8058 Zürich-Airport,[email protected],tel. +41 43 812 2694, fax +41 1 811 1001

Swissport International Ltd., Cristina Feistmann,VP General Counsel, P.O. Box, CH-8058 Zürich-Airport, [email protected],tel. +41 43 812 3858, fax +41 1 811 1001

Swissport Executive Aviation, Alan George,VP Executive Aviation, P.O. Box, CH-8058 Zürich-Airport, [email protected],tel. +41 43 812 0346, fax +41 1 811 1001

A S I AM I D D L E E A S TA F R I C ASwissport International Ltd., Willy Hallauer, EVPDivision Asia/Middle East/Africa, P.O. Box,CH-8058 Zürich-Airport, [email protected],tel. +41 43 812 4560, fax +41 1 811 1001

I S R A E LQ.A.S. – Quality Airport Services, Yossi Raviv,President & CEO, P.O. Box 136,Ben Gurion International Airport 70100, Israel,[email protected],tel. +972 3 972 7777, fax +972 3 972 7772

K E N YASwissport Kenya, Dirk Olav Everts, CEO,Jomo Kenyatta Intl. Airport/Unit 2,P.O. Box 19177, Nairobi, Kenya,[email protected],tel. +254 282 2020, fax +254 282 2329

T H E P H I L I P P I N E SMiascor, Juan C. Paraiso III, President & CEO,Citadel Holdings, Inc., 4/F, SGV II Bldg. 6758Ayala Avenue, Makati City,The Philippines, [email protected],tel. +63 2 851 9647, fax +63 2 851 9680

S O U T H A F R I C ASwissport South Africa (Pty) Ltd.,Fernand Stauffer, President & CEO,P.O. Box 5511, Johannesburg Intl. Airport 1620,South Africa, [email protected],tel. +27 11 928 8527, fax +27 11 928 8541

TA N Z A N I ADAHACO, Gaudence K. Temu, GeneralManager, P.O. Box 18043,Dar es Salaam Intl. Airport, Tanzania,[email protected],tel. +255 22 284 4610/14, fax +255 22 284 4343

S W I T Z E R L A N DSwissport International Ltd., Urs Sieber, EVPDivision Switzerland, P.O. Box,CH-8058 Zürich-Airport,[email protected],tel. +41 43 812 6170, fax +41 43 812 9195

B A S E LSwissport Basel AG, Stefan Resele,President & CEO, P.O. Box, CH-4030 Basel-Airport, [email protected],tel. +41 61 3252300, fax +41 61 325 23 07

G E N E VASwissport Genève SA, Ernest Hochuli, President& CEO, P.O. Box 776, CH-1215 Geneva-Airport, [email protected],tel. +41 2279930 10, fax +41 22 799 31 67

Z Ü R I C HSwissport Zürich AG, Urs Sieber,President & CEO, P.O. Box, CH-8058 Zürich-Airport, [email protected],tel. +41 43 812 6170, fax +41 43 812 9195

E U R O P ESwissport International Ltd., John Mc DonaghEVP Division Europe, Building 558b,Cargo City South, 6549 Frankfurt,[email protected]. +49 69 690 22290, fax +49 69 690 58120

A U S T R I ASwissport Austria GmbH, Renate Mackay,General Manager, World Trade Center TOP112, 1300 Vienna, Austria,[email protected],tel. +43 1 7007 35521, fax +43 1 7007 35523

B E L G I U MSwissport Cargo Services Belgium, Patrick Minsart, General Manager, BrucargoBuilding 721, 1931 Zaventem, Belgium,[email protected],tel. +32 2 753 0510, fax +32 2 753 0519

F R A N C ESwissport France, Jean-Didier Savioz,President & CEO, Immeuble Communica,455, Promenade des Anglais,06299 Nice Cedex 3, France,[email protected],tel. +33 4 9229 4452, fax +33 4 9229 4451

G E R M A N YSwissport Deutschland GmbH, Simon Lehmann,CEO Germany, European Headquarters, CargoCity Süd, Geb. 558 E, 60549 Frankfurt, Germany, [email protected],tel. +49 69 690 222 82, fax +49 69 690 58 120

Swissport Cargo Services Deutschland GmbH,Heath White, General Manager Cargo Services,Cargo City South, Building 558B,60549 Frankfurt, Germany,[email protected],tel. +49 69 219 7970, fax +49 69 219 79799

S.Stuttgart Ground Services GmbH, Klaus Knöpfle, General Manager, Flughafen Stuttgart, P.O. Box 230411, 70624Stuttgart, Germany, [email protected],tel. +49 711 948 2900, fax +49 711 948 2901

G R E E C ESwissport Hellas S.A., Phil McGrane,General Manager, Athens International Airport“Eleftherios Venizelos”, 19019 Spata, Greece,[email protected],tel. +30 210 353 7256, fax +30 210 353 7821

Swissport Hellas Cargo, Alex Panokis, Opera-tions Manager, Athens International Airport“Eleftherios Venizelos”, Cargo 3–4, Bldg 15A,19019 Spata, Greece, [email protected],tel. +30 210 354 3099, fax +30 210 354 3170

Swissport Hellas Sud, Georges Peter, GeneralManager, National Airport of Heraklion-Crete“Nikos Kazantzakis”, 71601 Heraklion, Crete,[email protected],tel. +30 8 133 6970, fax +30 8 133 6971

I TA LYSwissport Cargo Services Italy, Sergio Squeri,General Manager, Via R. Morandi 76, 20090Segrate, Italy, [email protected],tel. +39 02 2692 0271, fax +39 02 2692 0257

L U X E M B O U R GSwissport Cargo Services Luxembourg,Oliver Hellwig, Managing Director, LuxembourgAirport, Cargo Center West/Findel Airport,2889 Luxembourg, Luxembourg,[email protected],tel. +352 26 426 2700, fax +352 26 426 2702

R U S S I ASwissport Cargo Services Russia, NataliaFeodorova, General Manager, Pilotov 32A,Aviagorrodok, St. Petersburg, Russia,[email protected], tel. +7 812 118 7591,fax +7 812 118 7591

S PA I NSwissport Spain S.A., Daniel Gut,President & CEO, C/Gran Via, 71-3a dcha.,28013 Madrid, Spain, [email protected],tel. +34 91 548 7631/32, fax +34 91 541 5955

T U R K E YHavas, Cüneyd Sen,General Manager, Prof. Nurettin Öktem Sk. No. 2,80260 Sisli-Istanbul, Turkey, [email protected],tel. +90 212 233 2422, fax +90 212 2233 3853

U N I T E D K I N G D O MSwissport U.K. Ltd., Paul Arnold, CEO,Bedfont Road, London Heathrow Airport, Staines,Middlesex, TW197NL, United Kingdom,[email protected],tel. +44 1784 266 660, fax +44 1784 266 262

C O N TA C T S

I M P R E S S U M

Published by:Swissport International Ltd.

Publisher:Stephan Beerli, Executive VicePresident Marketing & Sales,Swissport International [email protected]

Editor:Richard [email protected]: +44 (0) 131 476 8052

Swissport coordinator:Nicole [email protected]

Contributors to this issue:Stavros AgathangelouJoseph In AlbonDieter AltenburgerStephan BeerliLudwig BertschErich BodenmannMartin BrüggerThomas Bull-LarsenJohn Mc DonaghAlan GeorgeSanae GermanGerhard GoselinkIrene GrellWilly Hallauer Philip HillSean KinseyNeindiwe J. KivariaMalcolm MackayHans-Rudolph MoserRichard RoweUrs von SchroederJacques SermetUrs SieberPeter SturzeneggerSteve TammChristian Zweifel

Translations:Paul Day

Layout and printing:DAZ, Druckerei Albisrieden Zürich

Subscriptions:For a free subscription, please sendyour full name and address to theSwissreporter Information Desk.

Changes of address:Please send details of any change ofaddress (by returning your mailinglabel with the changes clearly indi-cated) and any other correspond-ence regarding subscriptions to theSwissreporter Information Desk.

Printed in SwitzerlandCirculation 14,500

© 2003 Swissport InternationalLtd., Zürich-Airport, Switzerland

Swissreporter Information Desk:Phone: +41 43 812 4954Fax: +41 1 811 [email protected]

www.swissport.com

L AT I N A M E R I C ASwissport Brasil Ltda., Dieter Altenburger,EVP Division Latin America, Av. Vinte de Janeiros/n, Via de Servico – Rua T/103, Ilha do Gover-nador, RJ 21941-570, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,[email protected],tel. +55 21 3398 5934, fax +55 21 3398 5932

A R G E N T I N ASwissport Argentina S.A.,Hugo Schreier, CEO, Intl. Airport Ezeiza,Ministro Pistarini, 1802 Ezeiza, Buenos Aires,Argentina, [email protected],tel. +54 11 5480 4433, fax +54 11 5480 4431

B R A Z I LSwissport Brasil Ltda., Lician de Mello,CEO, Av. Vinte de Janeiro s/n, 1º andar-Pista,Sala 1651A, Ilha do Governador, RJ 21941-970,Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, [email protected],tel. +55 21 3398 5933, fax +55 21 3398 5932

D O M I N I C A N R E P U B L I CSwissport Dominicana, Omar J. Azar, CEO,Avenida Independencia 1811, Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic, [email protected],tel. +1 809 508 2230, fax +1 809 508 3233

H O N D U R A SSwissport GBH Honduras, Luis Calderon Curo,General Manager, Nueva Terminal de CargaOf. 301, Apto. Internacional “Ramón VilledaMorales”, San Pedro Sula, Honduras,[email protected],tel. +504 668 8880, fax +504 668 8884

M E X I C OSwissport de México S.A. de C.V., NorbertBielderman, President & CEO, Antiguo Caminoa Texcoco s/n, Col. Peñon de los Baños, C.P.15520, Deleg. Venustiano Carranza, MexicoD.F., [email protected],tel. +52 55 5786 9500, fax: +52 55 2599 0326

N E T H E R L A N D A N T I L L E SSwissport Cargo Services Curaçao/Aruba,Gerhard Goselink, General Manager, Reina,Beatrix Airport, Cargo Building, Aruba,[email protected],tel. +599 9868 2244, fax +599 9562 9079

P E R USwissport GBH Peru, Alfonso Garcia-Miro,Executive Director, Av. Elmer Faucett 4800Callao, Lima, Peru,[email protected],tel. +511 411 6800, fax +511 411 6820

V E N E Z U E L ASwissport Cargo Services Venezuela,Oscar Lehmann, General Manager, Ed. PascalTorre B Local 4B, Planta Baja, Av. RomuloGallegos, Santa Eduvigis Caracas, Venezuela,[email protected], tel. +58 212 285 4060,fax +58 212 285 8491

N O R T H A M E R I C ASwissport North America/USA Inc.,Erich Bodenmann, EVP Division North America,45025 Aviation Drive, Dulles, VA 20166, USA,[email protected],tel. +1 703 742 4301, fax +1 703 742 4321

Swissport Fueling, Thomas F. Comeau,President, 45025 Aviation Drive, Suite 350,Dulles, VA 20166-7557, USA,[email protected],tel. +1 703 742 4392, fax +1 703 742 4388

Swissport Cargo Services, L.P., Erich Bodenmann,President (ad interim), 45025 Aviation Drive, Dulles, VA 20166, USA,[email protected],tel. +1 703 742 4301, fax +1 703 742 4321

Swissport CFE, Fred Campbell,President (ad interim), 4560 South Boulevard,Suite 202, Virginia Beach, VA 23452, USA,[email protected],tel. +1 757 490 2465, fax +1 757 490 2543

Hallmark Aviation Services, Philipp Huber,President, 5757 W. Century Blvd., Suite 860,Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA,[email protected],tel. +1 310 215 0701, fax +1 310 410 5362

C A N A D ASwissport Cargo Services Canada, Erich Boden-mann, President (ad interim), P.O. Box 86, TorontoAMF Ontario, CA L5P 1A2,[email protected],tel. +1 703 742 4301, fax +1 703 742 4321

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