25th anniversary of handling-company Salzburg Airport Services / passenger first philosophy / passenger- and ramp handling awarded on several occasions / successful ticket center and business lounge / a look behind the scenes
25 years of top service: Salzburg Airport Services (S.A.S.), a 100% subsidiary of Salzburg Airport, stands for innovation and top organization.
What goal has S.A.S. been pursuing for more than 25 years?
“The main aim is to offer our guests a smooth and friendly service, including an open smile and the kind of charm typical for the people in Salzburg. I am very proud of the fast, efficient and safe passenger- and ramp handling S.A.S. offers”, says Bettina Ganghofer, CEO of Salzburg Airport.
For a quarter of a century S.A.S. has been taking care of customer requirements on behalf of airlines and passengers. With considerable success! The company received awards for excellent service several times by well-known airlines.
“The biggest challenges are the different requirements of the particular airlines and the various check-in-systems of our airline-partners, which we all have to master. My team receives ongoing trainings in order to be able to meet these high quality standards”, emphasizes Barbara Horner, Station Manager of S.A.S.
The responsibilities are diverse: these include check-in, boarding, baggage search service, hosting of VIP-guests as well as load planning and load monitoring of aircrafts. In Salzburg S.A.S handle all airlines except for Austrian Airlines/Lufthansa-flights.
“I clearly remember December 1992, when the supervisory board decided to found Salzburg Airport Services as a subsidiary of the airport. We needed a company to take care of all handling activities for the diverse airline-partners. On May 1st this company handled its first flight”, says Rudolf Lipold, CEO of S.A.S.
Salzburg Airport Services – A Look behind the Scenes
While passengers are checked-in and others, who have checked-in online, arrive at the airport, preparations for the departure for every single flight are well underway behind the scenes: in the back office, a load plan is set up and all the relevant flight data (weather reports, flight plan etc.) are prepared for the crews. A ramp agent takes care of all service activities (catering, de-icing, water supply or refueling) and acts as an interface between the crew and the back office. On time-performance is essential in aviation! Therefore, the time for all the procedures needed has to be watched carefully.
In case a piece of luggage has been damaged or does not arrive on a flight, the Lost & Found Department is the place to contact. The team can search for luggage worldwide using a system called “World Tracer” and forwarding bags to the final destination of a passenger.
By the way: since 2010 Salzburg Airport Services has been operating a ticket center, a service facility, which is vital for an international airport. Besides taking care of individual needs of passengers like depositing tickets, flight reservations and bookings and payment of fees or service charges, many customers take the opportunity to seek advice on the spot.
You missed your flight? Your flight was cancelled? You do not know how to reach your final destination? The ticket center is the place to contact to receive support in any questions concerning rebooking, possible flight routes and more.
You prefer starting a journey in the pleasant atmosphere of the business or VIP-lounge? In 2015 the top modern business lounge opened for passengers, which is operated by Salzburg Airport Services. A number of airline-partners offer this service for their business and status customers, among them Austrian/Lufthansa, Air Baltic, Eurowings, Finnair, S7, Turkish Airlines and British Airways. The redesigned and modernized VIP-lounge can also be used for business customers, when demand is high.
