UFIS Airport Solutions (UFIS-AS) has been awarded a contract by Athens International Airport (AIA) to support them in providing services to persons with reduced mobility (PRM). This is the third airport, following Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) and Hannover (HAJ), to take advantage of this new application, enabling operators at the airport to plan and dispatch staff for the PRM service using the Universal Flight Information System (UFIS®) Resource Management System (RMS).
The main driver for this new application is EC regulation 1107/2006 coming into full force on July the 26th, 2008. The regulation stipulates that airports will be required to provide assistance to PRMs to enable them to make the same use of air transport as people who are not disabled. These special services provide assistance in boarding and disembarking from the aircraft, check-in, baggage handling and transport within the airport area.
TELEX INTERPRETATION SYSTEM
UFIS interprets telexes – both load messages and the new Passenger Assistance List (PAL) and Changed Assistance List (CAL) messages – to determine which flights need PRM support and how many passengers will require which form of support. Also, flight and non-flight related requests for PRM support can also be sent by the passengers themselves via the Internet or from kiosks or terminals at locations within the airport to a centralized PRM coordination office.
Based on the information from the airlines and the passengers themselves, the RMS application will generate a staffing requirement based on the flight schedule, the times for the requested service and staff qualifications required to perform the necessary services taking into account the different service providers for the airlines. Depending on where the service needs to be performed the task can be assigned to a particular pool of staff situated at an appropriate location. The system maintains a database on the various employees showing their availability and qualification with relevant contact details.
In addition, RMS is also used to schedule the equipment necessary to perform the different services. The application will also provide the functions to gather status information on the services and to provide data for KPI measurement to ensure that the service levels required are met.
By implementing the new PRM application AIA is well equipped to comply with this new EU regulation. AIA is one of UFIS-AS’s key customers, using UFIS as its main operational management tool. It is also the first airport to have UFIS JB, the next generation of UFIS software products.
“All the airports within the European Community are facing the same situation,” said Anders Sagadin, UFIS-AS’s president and CEO. “We are happy that Athens International Airport has followed the example of Rome and Hannover airports to take advantage of our new solution. We are pleased to be able to support them in providing the best possible services to their passengers.”