Apart from airline services and airport services, we also provide airport-related services including cargo terminal services, ground and passenger services and in-flight catering services to our flights and those of other airlines through our subsidiaries and associated companies as follows:
Our ground services include passenger services and ground support equipment services. At the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, BFS Ground provides ground support equipment services on a contract basis for other airlines. Worldwide Flight Services Holding S.A. (“WFS”) provides certain services to BFS Ground, which include monitoring and evaluating the quality of the operational services, marketing the services and facilities of BFS Ground, developing controls and best practice for operating costs, maintaining and administering all agreements of BFS Ground, including the Ground Project Agreement, and assisting in procuring relevant industry certification.
The AOT granted BFS Ground the right to operate ground equipment and ramp services under a build transfer-operate project agreement for a period of 20 years, commencing from September 28, 2006. BFS Ground’s principal competitor for its ground services is Thai Airways.
BFS Ground provides a wide range of passenger services for airlines, scheduled flights, charter flights and private jets at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Passenger services include check-in and ticketing service, boarding service, baggage handling and interline baggage handling.
BFS Ground provides ramp and passenger services to over 63 other airlines at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport. BFS Ground’s passenger service contracts are typically for terms of two to three years, and are denominated in Thai Baht.
BFS Ground provides Ramp Service and Ground Handling Service to airlines operating in and out of Suvarnabhumi Airport including scheduled flights, charter flights, and private jets. These services consist of shuttle bus service for passengers, air crews, and baggage; aircraft reloading and unloading service; aircraft towing service; passenger stairs service, interior aircraft cleaning service, Air Conditioning Unit (ACU), Ground Power Unit (GPU), water supply unit, ground equipment maintenance service, and flight operations information service, etc.
BFS Ground provides Ramp Service and Ground Handling Service to more than 90 airlines at Suvarnabhumi Airport. In general, the Ramp Service and the Ground Handling Service are engaged in two to three-year contracts with the service fee charged in Thai Baht.
BFS Ground is a service provider that is certified by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO), the Occupation Health and Safety Management System-ISO 45001:2018 and Quality Management System- ISO9001:2015.
BAC, provides in-flight catering for passengers on our own flights as well as for passengers on other airlines. The AOT granted BAC the right to operate in-flight catering services under a build transfer-operate project agreement dated (the “Catering Project Agreement”) for a period of 20 years commencing from September 28, 2006.
Bangkok Air Catering’s facility is located at Suvarnabhumi Airport with a size of approximately 20,000-sq.m. It is divided into a 10,000-sq.m. area for Halal meals preparation; 3,000-sq.m. area for general meals preparation, and 400 more square meters for Kosher meals preparation. BAC is capable of producing meals for all flights of The Company as well as other airlines including charter flights as in the following details.
BAC produces all meals in international standards namely the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) global standards. In addition, BAC is also Halal certified by the Central Islamic of Thailand and Kosher certified by the Thai Kashrut Services Ltd.
Apart from “the Company”, BAC now serves 26 airline clients with contracts typically for terms of one to three years. Such contracts are mostly priced in Thai Baht. Besides the in-flight catering service, BAC also provides meals and refreshments at The Company’s passenger lounge, both in Business and Economic Class, as well as the Business Class Lounges for the other airlines at Suvarnabhumi international Airport.
BAC is among three other in-flight catering service providers at Suvarnabhumi international Airport which are namely Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, and LSG Sky Chefs Co., Ltd.
In 2021, aviation businesses had been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, “the Company” which produces meals for airlines was also affected, as can be seen from 2021 meals production statistics above. However, public health authorities predicted that COVID-19 omicron variant will be categorized as endemic within this year. In that case, the company is confident that the business will return to normal with more positive growth when the situation is resolved.
BFS Cargo who provides international cargo service at Suvarnabhumi Airport; has commissioned WFS, a worldwide ground handling and cargo service provider for airlines around the world; to manage and operate the cargo warehouse by controlling quality, evaluating the overall performance including service operations, marketing operations, and cost-effectiveness operation development. These are aimed to ensure that BFS Cargo follows all contractual commitments and the Cargo service contract, as well as to provide guidance and assistance in cargo warehouse operation to be in line with the international standard and being certified in a relevant industry.
BFS Cargo won a 20-year concession from AOT on a cargo operation contract from September 28th, 2006; the date when Suvarnabhumi Airport was officially open. This allowed BFS Cargo to start providing service following the cargo operation contract on international air cargo at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
BFS Cargo’s facilities enable it to handle premium cargo, including perishable goods and valuable cargo, in respect of which it is able to earn higher margins. Security in BFS Cargo’s facilities is important to BFS Cargo. BFS Cargo has installed 165 closed circuit televisions located throughout its facilities, and in the areas where BFS Cargo stores high value cargo, BFS Cargo’s facilities are equipped with static cameras. BFS Cargo also has x-ray machines to screen for explosives and has outsourced aviation trained security personnel.
BFS Cargo is certified its security standard by the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA-FSR-2017), quality Management System as in ISO 9001:2015. BFS Cargo was the first and only IATA (International Air Transport Association) Safety Audit for Ground Operations (“ISAGO”) and the Occupational Health and Safety Management System ISO 45001:2018). It also plays a role as a regulated agent 3 which refers to the third country cargo service provider who’s been audited and approved in the standard of EU flight operation and is also certified as a Regulated Agent Certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT).
BFS Cargo’s cargo terminal is a 55,370 square meter facility at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Within BFS Cargo’s facilities, it has a 39,744 square meter cargo warehouse and 15,626 square meter office space. The warehouse area consists of a 2,500 square meter cold storage area, a secured storage area with an enclosed steel vault and biometric access control for valuables, a dedicated ventilated area for livestock and storage for hazardous cargo. The capacity of BFS Cargo’s cargo facility is 523,000 tons per annum.
On December 31st, 2022; BFS Cargo had more than 50 clients under two to three-year contracts and the service fee is charged in Thai Baht. BFS Cargo one of the two cargo service providers at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport which the other provider is Thai Airways International.