march2021 - 28

INTERNATIONAL

tion with the Smartwings Group and we
now provide ground handling services to
all flights of both airlines based at Prague
Airport - Czech Airlines and Smartwings.
We have also started new cooperation with
other air carriers who arrived in Prague
for the very first time because there is the
potential for possible future cooperation. "

to survive at this stage, let alone trying to
venture into new territories, " says Gamba.
" At this stage, the situation is a bit frozen
due to the large number of withdrawals.
It is not a good moment for people to take
risks. They want to make sure that they
can still make a business out of what they
have established. "
With regulation 696/2020 (EU), there is
now an exemption that allows airports that
have lost one of the handling companies to
go for a quick call to tender, and within a
matter of days, they can have or attract a
newcomer.
" Normally these airports have to go
through a comprehensive call for tenders,
make sure that those who do respond to
the call respect a certain number of safety
aspects and do their due diligence before
they can award a license to the company.
Within the pandemic this is not required,
although the validity of the license is only

European Directive
Directive 96/67 EC applies to Eastern
European countries that are part of the
European Union. The directive requires
that above a threshold of 2 million passengers a year, there is the need to have at
least two ground handling companies. But
ground handlers might as well be kept at
two only, observes Gamba.
" Currently, the situation with COVID19 does not call for newcomers to try
their chance at new airports. Many are
struggling and finding it extremely hard

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HYDRAULICS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
HYD-3865.3

9201 Independence Ave., Chatsworth, CA 91311 USA
(Phone) 818.407.3400 | (Fax) 818.407.3428
www.hiigroup.com
AviationPros.com/10017435

28 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE

MARCH 2021

Made in the U.S.A.

" It is not a good
moment for people
to take risks.
They want to make
sure that they can
still make a
business out of
what they have
established. "
- Fabio Gamba

for six months and renewable if necessary, "
says Gamba. " ASA has also asked for the
prolongation of the licenses that were due
to expire by 2021 until 2022. This means
that the licenses that have been awarded
to companies five, six, seven, eight years
ago would still hold valid for another year
and a half. "

Training, Qualification and
Safety
One domain where ASA is currently concentrating efforts to implement changes in
the ground handling business at both EU
and ICAO levels is the recognition of the
worker's background.
" If a worker or an employee has gone
through several training sessions and she
or he is moving from company A to company B for whatever reason, the training
she or he has undergone is currently not
recognized and then she or he would have
to go through all the training again. This
is an extra cost for the new employer and
obviously a loss of time for the employee
itself, " says Gamba.
" We are trying to think of ways to have
a universal - or at least to start with a
European - recognition of the backgrounds
of the employee with sort of a personal
training passport. This would benefit
the employers throughout Europe, and
this makes sure that we have a follow-up
and an understanding of who we are confronted with. "
http://www.hiigroup.com http://www.AviationPros.com/10017435
march2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of march2021
