Being BIDAir Services
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Posted Date: 24/09/2008
Issue: Airline Handling International November 2008
Publication: Airline Handling International
AHI What does the award of the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) licence mean to BIDAir in terms of investment and staffing levels?
AH BIDAir Services has invested in excess of ZAR200 million ($25.6 million) in GSE and related equipment as a result of being awarded the licence. In terms of staff numbers, we have grown by almost 100% compared with our pre licence levels, the main areas of growth being passenger and ramp handling. Prior to March 2008, BIDAir Services component entities each provided limited services to the airline industry under the auspices of individual agreements with ACSA, now all services are carried out in terms of the BIDAir Services licence and units have a common branding across the group. We have been able to consolidate those limited services into a comprehensive handling agreement per airline. Explosive growth has been recorded in both passenger and ramp handling with more than 30 new airline agreements being signed in these areas.
AHI Does ownership by Bidvest enable BIDAir Services to ramp up quickly and expand with market opportunities?
AH BIDAir Services ownership by Bidvest has enabled funding in order to quickly build the capacity required for March 1, 2008. Although it is entirely up to us to demonstrate the returns on that investment that Bidvest require from all group companies.
AHI As a local provider of ground services are there ways in which BIDAir believes it has the edge?
AH We believe that local knowledge is always important and nowhere more so than in South Africa, with the turbulent history that has gone before there is an undoubted advantage in understanding local conditions and requirements. The licence tender and issuing process has seen the dawn of a new era of operational cooperation between the three ground handlers; the realisation that the “haves” need to assist the “have nots”, at times when the airline and their passengers could suffer as a result of an operational failure by one handler, has resulted in much wider cooperation then previously known in South Africa.
AHI What is your relationship with Express Air Services? Is it a sister organisation or a subsidiary? Do you compete or are your areas of business distinct?
AH Express Air Services is the cargo services arm of the BIDAir Group and offers both traditional warehouse handling as well as general sales and service agent and outsourcing services. The provision of services is totally complimentary and there is no area of cross over.
AHI Apart from the new licence arrangements at South African airports, are you growing in other ways? Or does growth occur at the Bidvest level?
AH Bidvest is a highly de-centralised organisation and BIDAir Services is expected to grow through its own endeavours.
AHI Does BIDAir Services have a presence outside South Africa? Should it?
AH BIDAir Services is currently only present in South Africa, although Express Air Services does have cargo operations in several sub-Saharan countries. Our long term planning envisages growth beyond the borders of South Africa, although any such growth would only be on a sound commercial basis.
AHI Is pricing more of an issue for you than for handlers, say, in the US or Europe?
AH Our pricing is primarily in Rand as the fluctuation in the currencies does not lend itself to steady pricing. The fact that most GSE is imported and paid for in US dollars and euros does add an interesting wrinkle. The terms of the licence issued by ACSA to both handlers are quite prescriptive in terms of what is and isn’t allowed. This has led to a considerable increase in our costs compared with the previous licence holders and this, in turn, has resulted in charges to the airlines being higher than that to which they have become accustomed in South Africa.
AHI Is it possible to say that there are challenges and opportunities for ground handling in Africa that are specific to this continent and not others?
AH Ground handling is pretty generic throughout the world although with specific local exceptions and we don’t believe that our issues are much different to those in other developing countries. One must remain alert to the potential pitfalls of working with diverse cultures and languages and be mindful of different customs and work practices.
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