The airport ground handling services market was valued at $54 million (USD) in 2016 by Visiongain Ltd. with strong growth rates expected over the next ten years. There is a huge growth story underway. The shift from paper-based documentation to digital has been a game-changer for the whole logistics industry globally. In particular, the magnitude of the ground handling market and its growth trajectory is illustrated by GM Insights’ projection – the aircraft ground handling system market size is to exceed $160 million (USD) by 2022. And, technology will likely prove to be a key driver and enabler for this growth.
Plaisance Air Transport Services Ltd (PATS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Aviation, a founder and innovator in the aviation and travel sector in Mauritius. As part of its wide range of airport services, PATS provides part of ground handling activities in Mauritius and Madagascar, and full ground handling services in Mozambique. It handles 28,152 tonnes of cargo annually.
PATS had a legacy system based on Informix that was no longer supported and had thus become obsolete. The need to shift to a web-based platform was imminent. The aim was also to propel their performance and efficiency levels to those expected from a reputable ground handler.
Post the GALAXY implementation, PATS benefited in terms of time, money and convenience. They opted for the web-based version, so there was no investment in hardware, no need for back-ups, no risk of obsolescence and no maintenance necessary.
The adoption of GALAXY resulted in huge time savings in terms of data entry (interfaces), transposition errors, no reworks and better employee morale. The existing workforce was able to handle an increased number of gate passes – about 20% more. There has been a reduction in overtime, which was a must to complete the daily tasks prior to GALAXY. On an average, there was a savings of 30 minutes per flight in data capture, totalling to about 5 hours per day.
With a web-based Airport Cargo Management Solution from Kale Logistics Solutions, we were finally able to find a highly scalable and flexible solution that meets the needs of our growing business. The systems not just streamlined our business processes, but also enhanced efficiency and productivity. As a fast-growing company, this helped us to make informed business decisions pertaining to our rapid expansion and development. Our association with Kale has been a strategic partnership for us, one which will continue to complement our long-term goals of modernization and expansion.
Faiz Laulloo, Managing Director, Plaisance Air Transport Services – A Roger Group Company
