Ambitious sustainability: Aviator plans to be carbon neutral by 2026

Aviator Airport Alliance, a full-range provider of aviation services at 15 airports across the Nordics and a family member of one of the largest aerospace service groups Avia Solutions Group, has had a big increase in Ground Support Equipment (GSE) over 2021 to meet the growing ground handling services demand.

According to Jo Alex Tanem, CEO of Aviator Airport Alliance, the need for new and improved GSE was mainly driven by the requirements of new and existing clients. “2021 was a truly successful year for Aviator, with a great deal of new partnerships established as well as prolonging existing contracts. To meet the needs and demands of our clients, who expect quality and professionalism every step of the way, we have invested in a high amount of new equipment.”

Through the acquisition of new equipment, Aviator not only addresses the needs of their clientele but also their impact on the environment. “Currently, a large part of Aviator’s GSE is already electric, yet we always strive to buy electric GSE when possible, which will increase the number of our sustainable machinery significantly over the years to come,” shared Jo Alex Tanem. “We have a great relationship with such well-known manufacturers in the GSE market like Kalmar Motor, Mulag, JBT, Vestergaard, Mallaghan, and providers as TCR and HiSERV thus I have no doubt that our sustainable GSE without problems will be the majority in our fleet within the short term.”

Currently, Aviator has 1297 GSE units not counting dollies and trollies, 70% is in Sweden and Norway, where the company has the most stations. “Currently the number of GSE units in our other serviced countries, Denmark and Finland, amounts to 380, yet we plan to introduce new equipment to meet our customers' planned growth,” shared Johan Selen, Aviator GSE Repair Shop manager.

The introduction of the new GSE marks Aviator’s next step towards more sustainable and eco-friendly operations, under the company’s sustainability plan. “Electrical ground handling machinery saves the company on fuel costs and lowers our environmental impact. For example, Kalmar Motor, TBL190 Electric Pushback/Towing tractor that will reach us in 2022, will allow us to save approximately 30 000 litres of Diesel, which corresponds to around 80 000 kg CO2. Additionally, such GSE allows us to operate equipment in closed gate areas with zero-emission, no small particle pollution, and with practically eliminated equipment noise,” Magnus Söderberg the Business Improvement Director of Aviator explained. “In addition, we will save a lot in service and maintenance as the newer machines do not require service as frequently.”

Jo Alex Tanem shares that when shifting to electric equipment, the business still faces some challenges. “At the moment, our biggest challenge is de-icing. Doing de-icing procedures on just electricity becomes an issue, as a lot of electricity is required to heat the de-icing liquid. But I believe that in no time we will have efficient electric equipment that will be able to do that without an issue.”

Aviator is ambitious about sustainable operations and strives to be carbon neutral in about 5 years.