SAHCO acquires new fleet of ground handling equipment

Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc said it has boosted  its fleet of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) with more ultra-modern equipment.

According to the SAHCO management, the new fleet of equipment acquired included 10 Passenger Step Units that were manufactured by Mallaghan which is a renowned aviation industry manufacturer and supplier of highly acclaimed Ground Support Equipment.

This came just as the handling company, in a way of supporting gender equity and empowerment of women, has again proven its unwavering support for the education and support of the girl-child by partnering with the Africa Agility Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to educating, training and mentoring girls in Information Technology (IT).

The Passenger Step Units have the capacity to provide passenger access to a wide range of aircraft like B747, B777, B767, A340, A380, A320, etc.

“The equipment is fitted with proximity sensors which are devices that shut down the equipment engines when they are positioned too close to the aircraft to prevent aircraft damage.

“Another acquired equipment in the new fleet is an Air Starter Unit (ASU) which is used to supply necessary quantities of air at a specified pressure to aircraft while it is parked. The ASU was acquired from Guinault in France and has an eco-friendly engine while the chassis is made from steel to reduce the rate of corrosion or wear, also it has a safety device attached to the fuel gauge to enable it shut down when the fuel is less than 30 litres to prevent engine damage due to fuel shortage.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

• ‘Officials initially offered to help but when the number of able-bodied citizens at the centre increased, they left us unattended to’
• Why Ogun Tops List Of ‘Yahoo Boys’ In Nigeria ― Governor Abiodun
• Police, Amotekun after criminals on Lagos-Ibadan expressway
• Suspected cannibal pays N500,000 for boy’s human organs, says ‘that’s my favourite meal, especially the throat’
• Court awards Nnamdi Kanu N1 billion over invasion of his home by military, asks FG to apologise

Furthermore, two units of Airmarrel High Loader LAM 7000 were also part of the latest acquired fleet of the GSE. The LAM 7000 has the capacity of loading about 7,000kg of pallets or containers at a time. This equipment is also furnished with proximity sensors and were procured from Airmarrel, a GSE producing giant from France. It is also furnished with electrical and hand emergency pumps which can be used during emergency procedures.

In a related development, SAHCO engineering team has produced 20 baggage carts from locally sourced materials. These equipment that has been dispatched to SAHCO’s Abuja station were produced according to European standards with huge improvements on their European counterparts.

The carts were produced to be able to carry more baggage, rugged side guides with heavy duty hinges to customise their functionality to suit Nigerian baggage peculiarities. Also, they can manoeuvre at 90 degrees unlike their European counterparts. These carts were locally produced thereby saving SAHCO a lot of foreign exchange.

Speaking about the equipment, the Managing Director/CEO of SAHCO, Basil Agboarumi, said the company’s management’s decision to constantly invest in modern Ground Handling Equipment was due to the fact that SAHCO was always pursuing excellent services to clients.

His words, “As always, we are an aviation ground handling provider and what we stand for and want to be known for is not just to provide services but to provide excellent Ground Handling Services and we have an understanding as an organisation that for us to be able to provide that kind of services, we must have staff that are well trained in what they do and have the right equipment to work with.”

On its partnership with the Africa Agility Foundation, SAHCO made available its world class ultra-modern training facility located in Lagos for training and mentoring of the girls in Information Technology for three weeks at zero cost to the foundation.

The three weeks training boot camp programme, which was tagged ‘GIRLS in TECH’ was aimed at empowering the talent economy of Africa, reducing poverty rate and promoting gender equality by proffering digital solutions to certain problems in Africa clime.