october2021 - 24

INTERNATIONAL
report they currently do not see any direct
changes due to Brexit.
" As of now, international traffic has been
low, and we do not anticipate any significant
changes due to Brexit in Norway.
Widerøe Airline has operated the Bergen-Aberdeen
flights during the COVID-19
pandemic with some increase in cargo, but
mainly the route has been operated due to
passengers working in the oil and energy
industry and on supplier ships, " say officials
at WGH.
Post-Brexit Differences
In the direct aftermath of Brexit, Menzies
noticed UK companies setting up entities in
the continent to ease the transfer of goods,
as it had become quite cumbersome to do,
says Gomez.
" However, there have not been any noticeable
changes to the ground handling sector
post-Brexit. For us, changes in import and
export duties and tax have made us more
conscious about the movement of goods to
and from the UK, causing us to carefully
consider the equipment and materials purchased
for our UK business, " he says.
Before Brexit, Widerøe Airline carried
and handled a significant amount of lobster
cargo from the UK.
" One change post-Brexit has been
that with the UK leaving the EU, all food
imports must be approved by the Norwegian
Food Safety Authority, the latter is
not the case for food import from the EU
and the European Economic Area (EEA), "
say WGH officials. " The Norwegian Food
Safety Authority is located in Oslo and
provides no service in Bergen, and therefore
food imports sent from Aberdeen onto
Bergen cannot be 'declared.' Hence, there
is no lobster cargo directly from the UK to
Bergen anymore. In addition, all UK cargo
now must file a T1 shipping note, so additional
work is required. "
Industry Developments
According to Gomez, there have not been
any ground handling developments that
have halted because of Brexit.
" The UK Export Finance is making
efforts to increase exports, as they were
prior to Brexit, " he says. " Comparably,
COVID-19 has had a bigger impact on the
24 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE OCTOBER 2021
industry. However, as travel restrictions
ease and we begin to enter, what we hope
is the post-COVID-19 era in Europe, transformation
is picking up pace again. "
Swissport has taken Brexit as an opportunity
to bring more innovation to its
ground handling services.
" This includes our Cargospot cargo
app, developed by CHAMP Cargosystems,
which allows Swissport to record every
step of the warehousing process, such as
acceptance, build-up, check-in of goods
and delivery, " says Winstanley. " With these
process steps in the future supported with
real-time visibility, customers can keep
track of their shipment status according
to Cargo iQ standards. The cargo app will
enable Swissport workers to monitor and
steer the warehousing process with realtime
visibility, in a user-friendly and
highly efficient way and offers advanced
data-insights into air cargo flows. "
New Procedures and
Requirements
The post-Brexit new normal is already a
reality, according to Fordree.
Photo courtesy of Widerøe Ground Handling
october2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of october2021
