Fraport AG's "Made in FRA" Know-how Shines on Florida: Jacksonville Airport Authority and Fraport Plan Joint Venture for Ground Handling

Frankfurt am Main, Germany 25. 7. 2003 (PROTEXT/ots) -Experts from the Aviation Ground Services and Logistics (BVD)division of Fraport AG and Jacksonville Airport Authority (JAA)recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) forcooperation in the area of ground handling operations. Thesigning of a joint-venture contract is expected soon, followedby the establishment of a joint company for offering groundhandling services at Jacksonville Airport (JIA). Located innorthern Florida, Jacksonville Airport recorded almost fivemillion passengers in 2002. Serving as a reference airport tothe FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), JIA maintains aprominent position in the American airport system. Inparticular, Jacksonville Airport Authority is looking to improvebaggage-handling operations. Under a consulting contract,Fraport's BVD division provided assistance and maderecommendations. This included developing solutions foroptimizing Jacksonville Airport's automated baggage conveyorsystem, which has integrated baggage screening. Also, Fraport'sexperts examined whether centrally-organized handling couldimprove the overall quality and profitability of ground-handlingservices at JIA.

A visiting Florida delegation was impressedby the extensive ground handling know-how that Fraport developsand offers at FRA - one of the world's Top Ten aviation gatewaysfor passenger and cargo traffic (ACI figures). At JacksonvilleAirport airlines still provide their own handling services, so-called self-handling. But the airlines are currently looking atways to reduce costs and improve service quality. JacksonvilleAirport is served by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and USAirways, among others.

Along with operating the world'slargest automated conveyor handling system - more than 67kilometers of guideways - Fraport's BVD division offers acomplete range of airside and landside ground-handling servicesto many airlines at FRA, including Lufthansa and the StarAlliance carriers. Fraport also has ground handling jointventures at six airports in Spain, three airports in Portugal, aswell as a wholly owned subsidiary at Vienna Airport in Austria.ots Originaltext: Fraport AG Im Internet recherchierbar:http://www.presseportal.de For More Information, Please Contact:Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide Attn: Robert A.Payne - Manager International Press 60547 Frankfurt am Main,Germany Tel.: +49 69.690.78547 Fax: +49.69.690.60548 E-mail:r.payne@fraport.de Internet: www.fraport.com

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