WORLD ANALYSIS
“We expect opportunities to come from
the dynamic LCC market in South Korea.
Vietnam also represents a region of
promise”
Glenn Rutherford
Swissport
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Rutherford mentions, but his positivity continues: “We
expect opportunities to come from the dynamic LCC
market in South Korea. Vietnam also represents a region
of promise, with new customers from Vietnam and New
Zealand commencing operations into Seoul’s Incheon
International airport.” Flight frequencies to Vietnam
are expected to continue increasing as the country’s
popularity as a tourist destination grows, he adds.
“We are handling two new growing airlines and their
frequencies are increasing as a result.”
Modern advances
In terms of trends, all the handlers report continued
technological advances and from the cargo side of the
story, Kwong says that customers continue to prioritise
e-commerce, pharma and perishables as key growth
opportunities. Some of Hactl’s recent innovation e orts
record for freighters twice in recent weeks:
we have set a new record of 106 aircra
handled in 24 hours,” he enthuses.
Technological advances are shaping the
demands of the travel industry, Goovaerts
asserts. “Exposure to the digital landscape
and travel has shaped the expectations of
consumers and millennials. Simply put,
people are more discerning and expect
more.” With comfort, value-for-money and
a seamless airport experience increasingly
a standard expectation of travellers, dnata
is investing in its products and services
accordingly, he continues. “ e opening of
our new marhaba airport lounge at Changi
airport demonstrates our e orts.” He
continues of dnata’s recent investments in
technology: “Most recently, we’ve upgraded
part of our GSE eet and implemented
the latest telematics to support better eet
management, utilisation and reporting.”
Swissport has also been investing
in GSE, speci cally in implementing
telemetry technology for its GSE eet
in Japan, notes Rutherford. Additional
GSE investment is planned this year,
from 2019 include the new
Smart Cargo Locating and
e-Loading projects. “ e
rst of these speeds up the
racking and retrieval of
loose cargo in our giant
facility and is the rst stage
in fully automating this
process. e second has
seen paper-based processes
replaced with apps,
enabling us to be more
responsive to last-minute
loading plan changes,
and to use our resources
more e ciently. We have
broken our daily handling
22 February 2020 Ground Handling International