Ground Handling Services for PRMs and Live Animals at Changi Airport

This article discusses the ground handling services available for passengers with reduced mobility and live animals at Changi Airport. It covers the facilities and services provided, regulations and categories of live animals, and the challenges and areas for enhancement. The article also includes definitions of key terms and processes involved in the transportation of these groups.

Running head: GROUND HANDLING SERVICES
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Ground handling services:
Name:
Institution:
Ground handling services
Introduction
Various airlines in Changi airport gives wheelchair services to passengers
with reduce mobility. Passengers who required wheelchair within the

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airport are required to inform their airline before or during booking to make
sure that the journey is hassle-free. At Changi airport there exists the
parking lane which is dedicated and also the parking spot for the
passengers who possesses the wheelchairs that contain perfect signpost.
Additionally, the airport gives aid to passengers and for the passengers to
benefit from such services, then they are needed to go to the office of the
passengers with reduced mobility which is clearly shown using signposts in
the departure area. Once the passengers have reached the office then the
ground handlers' offices will help the passengers in all the processes
beginning from the checking-in until the process of boarding the aircraft.
Usually, there is a devoted route and counter for immigration for these
passengers to enhance the immigration process as faster as possible and
make the journey so smooth. The next step is ground marking as a way of
finding the required path.
Definitions
Air carrier- is referred to as air transport which is operating with a valid
operating license.
Airport-this is referring to as an area which is preserved for plane landing,
maneuvers of aircraft and taking off of aircraft, it also entails ancillary
installations which those operations might comprise for the necessity of the
of aircraft traffic and handling of services which includes installation which
is required for the profitable air services.
Airport car park- this is an area in the airport where the car is parked
under the direct control of the airport management, who are responsible for
serving the passengers in the airport.
Airport user- this is referred to as any legal and natural person who will be
liable for passengers’ carriage from air to airport in question.

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Reservation is referred to as facts that the passengers pose a ticket or any
other proof, which shows that the reservation has been registered and
accepted by the tour operator or the air carrier.
Commercial passenger Air service- this means that the passenger's air
transport service run on the air carrier through a non-schedule or schedule
flight offered to the entire public for respected appreciation, whether on its
own or as part of the package (Varsamos, 2016).
A person with reduced mobility- this is referred to as any person whose
mobility when utilizing the transport is reduced because of physical
disability The people with disability may vary, some may be temporary and
others may be permanent.
Operating air carrier- this refers to as air carriers that make or aims to
achieve the flight under a contract with the passengers or on the position
of the other person, legal, natural, or having a contract with the passenger
Tour operator this is referred to any person who, other than occasionally,
organizes air travel packages and sells the offers for sale directly or through
some retailers.
Categories
The Changi airport will outline the PRM under one of the following three
categories. First, are the passengers who lack the capability of traveling
over long distances in this case wheelchair should be given to the passenger
at the airport to help the passenger over a long distance. Secondly is the
passenger who cannot walk over the stairs then, in this case, and on and off
lift should be avail by utilizing the ambulifts. And where the ambulift is not
available then the airport should introduce ramps which its function is to
give ease access to the wheelchairs and thus giving a compassionate to the
PRM. Thirdly is the category of passengers who are immobile, here the
wheelchair should be avail which will help during movement to the aircraft.

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Facilities and services for PRM at the airport
The international airport, ground handling company, and airline give fast,
comfortable and safe services for PRMs beginning from where they are
entering the building in the terminal till the time they board aircraft in the
aircraft. The above company is in charge of executions of principles and
procedures concerning the services for the PRM. Below are facilities which
are found in the airport. The following are facilities and services for PRM at
the airport;
 Ask me digital assistant – in the Changi international airport there are
more than 20 ask me digital subordinates who assists the passengers
on the floor terminal when they are leaving or arriving. Through these
assistants the passenger’s ticket will be read, passenger can learn his
or her gate; learn about the services which are provided at the
terminal. Additional passenger can receive audio, video live assistant
from the airport assistants
 Staff terminal –personnel and security that will be given the work at
information desk are train on how they will apply equality for the
persons with disability, disabilities awareness, code of conduct
towards PRMs and the code of conduct towards PRMs and sign
language. The figure below shows how the staff personnel care for the
person with disability.

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 Departing and arriving passengers- this is referred to as an area for
entry-exit and also walking zones for the PRMs when they are arriving
and also when they are leaving the airport. When visually impaired
passengers reached the airport then they are allowed to leave using
the second and sixth entrances and they will also use the pavement
which is tactile to guide them to the information desk.
 Security checkpoints, fast track and passport cabinets- the security
checking is done by following the IATA Regulations.
 Check-inn counters – it is check-in islands for both domestic and
international flights (Ancell,2016).
 Security checkpoints- the entire security checkpoint have X-ray
equipment which gives security checks for PRMs.

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 Passport control – The entire passport control points is equipped with
the passports counters for the PRMs.
 Fast track – The PRMs can benefits from the fast track services which
are offered at control points.
 Parking – about 6% of total parking space in the airport is preserved
for the PRMs.
 Directions- this is the signs which are architecturally design to direct
the PRMs to various places in the airport.
 PRM assistance points – The airport 1, 3, 5, 7 which connect both the
departure floor with parking lot are equipped with call buttons and
phones for PRMs. The floor 4 is equipment with assistances phones
for PRMs who are just arrived.PRMs can get the services they need by

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contacting the calling ground handling (Graham, Budd, Ison, &
Timmis, 2019).
 Escalators and elevators- At the 1,3,5 and 7 entrances then there is
presence of single call button and one call button which are
connecting the parking of the car to the floor for departure. The
elevators are provided with an audio warning system which is a
program in English and Turkish. At every one of the 77 passengers
there is presence of elevators which act as boarding bridges to the
terminal building.
 Telephones- The telephones are presences on the departure floor and
one of the four phones achieves the standard of the payphones for the
height 90-110 cm. These telephones are marched within every
payphone group positioned at landside and airside.
 Washrooms and restrooms- the terminal contains more than 130 PRM
–friendly restrooms and 64 washrooms for airport staff with
disabilities. All the restrooms have an emergency button and an
assistance call.

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 Reserved places for the PRMs – the terminal contains the reserved
waiting and resting place for PRMs
 Doors and ramps-PRMs have the ability to access all the floors using
elevators.
 Transit PRMs- Nearest to the security checkpoint then there are
elevators that are meets with disability standards and use for the
transit PRMs traveling from international flights to domestic flights
(Paramonovs, & Ijevleva, 2016).
Processes perform in an international airport
There are various responsibilities and processes which are performed at
changi international Airport by ground handling units at various stages of
departures, transfer, transits and arrival for the passengers on the
stretchers. The processes which take place are;
 Showing the conditions and special needs for the passengers on
stretchers with the notation on the boarding card.
 Assisting the passengers on stretcher with registration at the check in
counter
 Helping them by moving them to the boarding area, as well as
boarding, getting into the seat and deplaning.
 Helping the passengers on stretcher to move around the airport and
also in retrieving, stowing the bags and mobility aids.

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 Additionally, patients should be assisted in cutting food, unwrapping
and opening of beverages.
Below is the stretcher which is used in changi international airport
On arrival of the passengers that are using the stretchers then they
are advice to remain seated until the staff at the airport come for
them , the airport staff they will escort them to the person who is
supposed to meet them. Below is another type of stretcher which is
used in Changi airport (Bloice, Baxter, & Gray, 2017).

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On boarding the passengers who used stretchers are required to
arrive earlier in the airport in order to get enough time for necessary
procedures including checking if the stretcher is fit for passenger
(Gettayacamin, Davun, Heidrich, Paramastri, & Resuello, 2018).
Challenges and one area for enhancement
The challenges facing the Changi airport include; safety currently flying is
seen as extremely safe as compared to the past. For instance, in the year
2013, the statistics show that there were approximately 37 million flights
and 16 fatal accidents occur. If the passengers are flying on the jet aircraft,
the chance of involving in an accident is one in 2.5 million. And among the
3.5 billion passengers then there are 210 fatalities (CROSS, & Vogel, 2018).
Thus the changes in the airline company are working hand in hand to
enhance the safety of its passengers. Now IATA is currently working with
other partners on crucial recommendations on how to track aircraft better.
There is a technology that will guide every individual for safety in the
future. Another challenge which may hinder the airline is the financial

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suitability and environmental factors. Every business is required to be
sustainable, but it is challenging for airlines that burn fuel to propel their
aircraft is expensive.
One area of enhancement is via using monitoring technology such as videos
and microphones as well as using technology to implement a certain
intensive work (Bezerra, & Gomes, 2015).
PART 2
Regulations and categories of live animals
IATA live animals regulations ( LAR) is the worldwide standard which is
based on transporting live animals using the airlines. The regulations are
put in place to make sure that the animals are transported safely and are
provided with the conducive air (Abeyratne, 2018). It entails requirements
on the transport of the live animals by air including handling requirements,
labeling, and marking. The life animal regulations include the following;
 Non –air transport of live animals
 The required information and documentation required when handling
the transport of live animals
 The detail classification of the more than thousand species of the
animals with the contains which will be used for transport
 Procedures for the non-air transport of live animals
 The up to date airline and government necessities about the transport
of live animals.
The categories of the live animals include first includes the chicks and
hatching eggs, horses, cats and dogs, fish and zoo animals. The chart below
shows how the regulation of the animals is perceived by the individual
people

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Facilities and services to facilitate the live animals
The first service is focusing on well-being; this is the service of making sure
that the animal journey is pleasant. All the animals are transported when
the aircraft want to departure so that the animals will not be stressed by the
landing of the aircraft. During transit and arrival, the staff will check the
condition of the animal. Additionally the airlines the animals will enjoy the
animal facilities services (Drljača, 2017).
Onboard at the time of transporting the animals then a specialized care
should be put in place. The required hygiene will be provided and also the
climate-controlled and pressurized compartments onboard which is usually
checked from the cockpit.
Rules and regulations-to ensure a safe, healthy journey, then all live animals
are handled and transported according to the IATA live animal regulations
(LAR). Moreover the live animal airport should comply with the
international trade in endangered species (CITES) (Duong, Tarantola, Ong,
Mey, Choeung, & Buchy, 2016). The diagram below shows how horse
transportation is done in airlines.

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Process for handling live animals
The following are processes for handling live animals
 Organize for the compartment cargo environment before loading the
animals , when they arrive at the airport
 Reduce the time that the aircraft takes in the ground including the
stopover while the animals are on the onboard (Peraković, Periša, &
Sente, 2017).
 Load the animal when the time for departures is almost approaching
 Of load, the animal nearly upon the arrival at the destination while
ensuring that ground crew are readily available to offload the animals
 Close the cargo door before departure and open the door of the cargo
upon arrival so that adequate ventilation of the live animals will be
enhanced (Komal, 2018). Below flowchart is the process for handling
live animals

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Challenges and area to enhance
The challenges which face the transportation of the live animals include, the
animal needs and functions, en-route environment and airport, processing
and ground handling and aircraft environmental control system (ECS)
settings. Every animal needs different considerations depending on the ECS
settings, configuration loading, handling and packing (Kalman, Harmelin,
Ziv, & Fischer, 2018). If the distinct species are being transported
together this will complicate the management of the key factors. It is
authoritative that the ECS systems will keep the temperatures of the cargo
at all times. This is the most challenging during the ground operations when
the temperatures are too high and the sunlight is strong thus leading to
high temperatures in the cargo thus it will not be conducive for the live
animals. Other challenges include high temperatures for the animals, high
humidity level and concentration of the carbon dioxide. Every animal needs

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unique environmental requirements some that their health should be
favorable. And thus sometimes environmental factors may greatly affect the
comfort of the animals (Sales, 2016).
The area to enhance for the transportation of the live animals is considering
climate issues. When animals are being transported over long distances and
through many zones, then it is important to plan for the journey so that the
animals will never experience unexpected climate change. Animals may be
exposed to distress because of the various stops at the airport. It is very
crucial that when this stop occurs, then a good arrangement should be
made to make sure that animals are not subjected to high temperatures. On
aircraft, the air conditioning system and heating are shut down on transit
stop and arrangements should be made, for the animals to be held until the
journey is resumes (Griffin, & Locke, 2016).
Below is how the live animal cargo should be made
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