It’s all change in Australia for Swissport as it celebrates a big contract win
In September, it was confirmed that global ground services provider Swissport had been appointed by Air New Zealand to undertake its ground handling at four major airports in Australia.
The decision of New Zealand’s flag-carrier to go with Swissport followed a competitive tender that, says Swissport, focused on safety, service and operational performance. As a result of the deal, Swissport expects to handle 8,000 additional flights in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth every year.
Moreover, Swissport Pacific CEO Glenn Rutherford announced, the contract will also see the handler recruit more than 250 new staff in Australia, while employees will benefit from further funding made available for training and extra equipment.
“Working with Air New Zealand marks a further expansion of Swissport’s presence in the Pacific region and further confirms our role as the region’s fastest-growing ground handler,” Rutherford said in September.
“We’re committing an additional $13m in training, skills development and specialist equipment and will continue to focus on ongoing development opportunities for our team of three thousand plus employees,” he added. The handler has confirmed that it intends to introduce efficient, environmentally friendly, electric vehicles wherever possible at its new stations.
Swissport will begin handling Air New Zealand in Melbourne and Sydney this month (November), in Brisbane in February next year and in Perth in March next year.
Continued growth requires more GSE
Swissport is active at 315 airports in 50 countries across five continents. Besides this latest contract with Air New Zealand, Swissport already handles at the following Australian airports for various customers:
Adelaide (YPAD)
Brisbane (YBBN)
Broome (YBRM)
Cairns (YBCS)
Canberra (YSCB)
Coffs Harbour (YSCH)
Darwin (YPDN)
Emerald (YEML)
Gold Coast (YBCC)
Hamilton Island (YBHM)
Hobart (YMHB)
Launceston (YMLT)
Mackay (YBMK)
Melbourne (YMML)
Mount Isa (YBMA)
Newcastle (YWLM)
Perth (YPPH)
Proserpine (YBPN)
Rockhampton (YBRK)
Sunshine Coast (YBSU)
Sydney Domestic (YSSY)
Sydney International (YSSY)
Townsville (YBTL)
Whyalla (YWHA)
The handler also supports Air New Zealand services at three smaller Australian airports – Sunshine Coast Airport (between July and October), Gold Coast Airport (all year) and Cairns Airport (between March and October, though this contract will cease at the end of this season). Yet, as noted above, the addition of Air New Zealand to its partners at those four major Australian gateways will require significant funding on Swissport’s part.
Indeed, says David Burgess, vice president global fleet management: “Swissport is committed to making a significant investment in purchasing a range of new equipment to support operations at all four stations – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.”
Moreover: “Swissport [GSE] fleet strategy is to use battery-powered equipment wherever possible, ranging from smaller units like baggage tractors through to heavy units like push-back tractors and airport passenger buses,” he continues.
But this could be a challenge for the new contract. “Charging infrastructure is in place at all four airports, but it is quite limited,” Burgess informs. “To support the scale of eGSE that we would like to have at our stations would need the airport to support us in providing real estate at various places at the airport for more charging stations.”
Any expansion in the battery-powered fleet in Australia would be part of the wider global programme that Swissport is adopting. Burgess explains. “In support of Swissport’s strategic approach to environmental sustainability, we will purchase electrically powered GSE, or eGSE, whenever it is appropriate to do so.
“However, we need to ensure that adequate battery charging facilities either exist or can be installed with support from the airport authority,” he stresses. “This support is not always forthcoming, so whilst we would like to purchase eGSE in some cases we are not able to do so. Nevertheless, in 2017 we doubled the amount of eGSE we purchased compared to 2016 and we are on track to achieve this again in 2018.”
Material win
Rutherford tells Airside that the decision of Air New Zealand to go with Swissport at these four primary Australian gateways followed a good deal of groundwork undertaken by Aerocare, the ground services provider that Swissport acquired earlier this year, and whose integration into Swissport continues today.
However, the long-term partnership is very much with Swissport which, Rutherford notes, was assessed by Air New Zealand for a number of criteria when the airline was considering bids for the handling contract at Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
Far more than just price, Air New Zealand considered operational capability, handlers’ ability to serve customers, the best cultural fit with the airline, and handlers’ potential for a successful long-term partnership.
The tender was a comprehensive, rigorous process, Rutherford points out, possibly unprecedented in its detail for the region. It’s a long-term deal, covering a period of more than five years, and Swissport’s success in gaining the contract represents a “material win” for the handler. “A prized contract, it’s one of the biggest for this part of the world,” Rutherford declares.
It’s not the only big change that Rutherford and his team are going through right now. Swissport acquired Aerocare (of which Rutherford was CEO) in March this year, and the new branding under the Swissport banner was unveiled to staff, customers and partners at Sydney Airport in July.
Full integration of the Aerocare operation into the global ground services and cargo handling business that is Swissport is expected by early next year, but much has already been achieved. According to Rutherford, the process of integration has been eased by the fact that the culture and organisational structures of both handlers were not dissimilar; in fact, he says, they happened to be already “very closely aligned”.
Indeed, “We are fitting in well,” Rutherford continues, “and have been welcomed into the Swissport fold. The change in brand has been positively received, welcomed by customers and staff.”
What is more, only “minor changes” have had to be made by the Aerocare team to fit the business into the Swissport global organisation, and Rutherford and his senior management team have been well supported but largely left alone to make what few changes have been necessary.
That’s not to say that synergies aren’t being exploited though. Swissport offers services that Aerocare didn’t, and that represents a significant opportunity for growth in the Australasian and wider Pacific market. For example, Swissport is a major player in the global air cargo business, while Aerocare had no footprint in air freight to speak of; this will be an area for potentially significant growth, therefore. Fuel provision and lounges represent other areas in which Swissport Pacific can spread its wings.
Finally, Rutherford points out, there are important gains to be made in sharing intellectual property and technology systems and processes amongst Swissport and what was previously Aerocare, opportunities that are going to be exploited by the organisation’s Asia Pacific operations.
