Flying high after awards
December 1st 2009

Initial Air Services with Manchester Airport was the winner of the Best Cleaned Premises – Transport Sector at the Golden Service Awards 2009

Initial Air Services has been working in partnership with Manchester Airport for the past 23 years providing an extensive range of cleaning services to meet the diverse needs of the airport environment.The company has developed a dynamic solution focusing on cleanliness, safety and security that contributes to the overall experience of 22 million passengers that fly to and from the airport each year.

“Initial Air Services has held the contract since 1986 and has grown to be a highly dependable and trusted supplier of cleaning services to Manchester Airport,” says Jon Fahie, head of terminals facilities at Manchester Airport, commenting on the relationship between the two companies.

Clean coverage

The support provided by Initial Air Services covers an extensive range of internal and external cleaning services to the terminal buildings, office blocks, multi storey and surface car parks and outlying areas. It also includes toilet and washroom services, recycling and waste management, airside FOD removal and air bridge bin emptying and roadway winterisation.The company also provides ad hoc services such as baggage handling and furniture removals when required.

“Initial Air Services consistently demonstrate their commitment to innovation to deliver business benefits.As technology has been developed in cleaning methods, machinery, labour and work control, it has been trialled on site and implemented, where appropriate, to the mutual benefit of both parties and our customers,” explains Fahie.

The operation utilises industry best practise, innovation and techniques to meet the precise needs of Manchester Airport and achieve ongoing improvement.This has resulted in the development and introduction of bespoke computerised inspection systems, robotic and battery-powered cleaning equipment and environmentally friendly cleaning materials.

In recent years, as a result of the extension and development of new facilities, traffic has increased substantially, both on the ground and in the air.With over 100 airlines now offering direct flights to over 210 destinations worldwide, the cleaning service needs to support a smooth operation that adapts to daily and seasonal fluctuations in throughput.

Battling building work

In particular, the past 14 months has seen Manchester Airport undergo a major refurbishment and development programme in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, so Initial Air Services has had to adapt to constantly changing requirements to ensure standards have been maintained and improved during this period.

“The major refurbishment and development programme has

required Initial Air Services to coordinate and adjust their cleaning

regime on a daily basis,“ states Fahie.

“They’ve had to deal with the impact of having numerous builders

on site and still maintain standards of cleanliness and appearance at

an acceptable level for our customers.

“This demonstrates the level of challenges regularly faced and I

commend Initial Air Services’ ability to adapt to our constantly

changing requirements.”

One man’s farewell to recycling

Initial Air Service’s John Kay has earned a well-deserved rest after collecting over a thousand tonnes of paper for recycling at Manchester Airport – equivalent to 17,000 trees. During a fifteen-year career at the airport he has helped recycle the weight of two aircraft loads of waste and is now looking forward to his retirement.

"I was quite shocked when they told me how much I'd managed to recycle,” says Kay. “The airport is like a small town so you can imagine how much material needs to be recycled but even one person can make a massive difference.”

The airport is working closely with operational partners to reduce the amount of waste landfilled by increasing recycling, with a target of 50% by 2015.Currently, over 1500t of waste is recycled each year. Increasing waste segregation at source requires the cooperation of all of the 19,000 staff and 20 million passengers.

“We are committed to supporting Manchester Airport’s drive to minimise waste, so we would like to thank John for his efforts,” says Freda Smith, general manager at Initial Air Services.