KLM is the national airline of the Netherlands, founded in 1919. It is one of the oldest airlines still operating under its original name.
Proud partner of
KLM at Schiphol
Manager GSE at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Gideon Wiebenga
Gideon has been working at KLM for more than 17 years and is in his role as Manager GSE he is responsible for the Ground Support Equipment (GSE) department. KLM is known as a pioneer in its sustainable GSE and in that capacity they have electrified already 65% of their equipment. KLM wants to have a CO2-neutral ground operation by 2030. Gideon maintains a strong and cooperative partnership with Viggo, particularly in our joint initiatives around the GSE pooling concept.
Our partnership with Viggo can be described as open-minded, fair and straightforward.
Pooling concept
“We were already familiar with Viggo from their operations at Eindhoven Airport. When Viggo started their operations here at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, they reached out to us regarding the use of powerstow equipment. We established a leasing arrangement for Viggo to utilize our powerstow and so the pooling concept was born. The GSE pooling was then expanded quite quickly and now also includes GPUs, (speed)loaders, belt loaders and baggage carts.”
The benefits
“The GSE pooling goes beyond optimizing equipment usage with several other noteworthy benefits. The pooling concept reduces the demand for tarmac space. Instead of each ground handling company having its own dedicated GSE across the apron, shared equipment means fewer vehicles and equipment on the tarmac. Besides that, GSE pooling minimizes traffic movements on the apron or tarmac. This reduction in traffic movement is a significant safety enhancement.”
An open-minded, fair and straightforward partnership
“Since Viggo also has a sustainable way of looking to do their business, this partnership around the GSE pooling was a good match. It helps that there are more and more parties that want to renew their equipment and we can work together in the journey towards zero-emission.
Our partnership with Viggo can be described as open-minded, fair and straightforward. Therefore, we also approached Viggo to assist in the ground handling of certain KLM flights during a challenging period for us. Viggo stepped in to support KLM and so the GSE pooling partnership expanded into a broader collaboration on operational level. These partnerships benefited both parties, creating opportunities for future collaboration and support. It has opened the door to exploring different ways in which we may work together in the future.”
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