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cerise, white and blue colour scheme, says transport operations manager Chris Clayton (pictured, left) whose idea it was to enter the Livery Awards. "It makes a good backdrop against the aeroplanes and works both in travel mode and with the body in the air away from the cab," he adds. "The lines are clean and simple."
The judges agreed. They liked the flair with which Alpha had captured the style of aircraft liveries. While plainly showing the company name and business, its eye-catching colour scheme works with the shape and design of the vehicle to reflect its airside operating environment.
As one of the world's largest aviation support services, the Alpha Airports Group is conscious of the importance of public perception. "We supply food products and our vehicles need to be professional, efficient and clean," says Clayton.
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COMPETITION
A smart, streamlined fleet gives the impression of a smart, streamlined operation and advertises the company in a memorable way—but the reverse is also true.
According to designers, the best liveries have immediate impact because they will be noticed just for a few seconds. That means keeping typefaces simple, and not using too many words. Colour should be chosen not only for visual appeal but also to suit the use to which the vehicle is put, and to integrate its various parts.
Alpha Airports, formerly Forte Airports Services, adopted its high-profile livery six years ago while it was the still a division of Forte. The winning livery was the result of a collaboration between Forte and a design company, says assistant commercial director Ellen Hallam. Flotation on the stock market four years ago has transformed Forte's Airport Services into Alpha Airports Group.
Established over 40 years ago to meet the demand for high-volume flight catering, the company won its first passenger concession at Heathrow in 1955. By 1963 a retail division had been set up to operate duty-free sites in passenger terminals. Forte Airport Services became the umbrella for the three areas of operation; in-flight catering, passenger catering and retail services.
During this time the company developed a network of flight catering units. Bonded or customs-regulated stores or warehouses were set up to supply duty-free products to airline passengers; larger passenger catering operations, on the ground, went to Forte's restaurant division.
From small beginnings, Alpha Airports claims to be the largest supplier of airline catering and airport retail services in the UK and one of the leading ground handling services groups in the US, employing more than 5,000 people. Two years ago it acquired DynAir, an independent aviation services group in the US.
Alpha Catering Services provides meals for more than 100 airlines from 30 flight kitchens across three continents. Its bonded stores supply 15 airports with duty-free and duty-paid goods and service airport catering at seven airports. There are more than 80 duty-free shops, carrying well-known brands provided by Alpha Retail Services at 20 UK and three overseas airports. 200 vehicles from In the US, Alpha Ground Services provides ground handling services to more than 150 airlines, including aircraft cleaning, cargo handling, fuelling, line maintenance, passenger ticketing, ramp service and security, says the company.
Alpha operates around 200 specialist built trucks, as well as 120 light vans.The unusual half-cab, scissor-lift vehicle was originally designed by the company and has since been adopted elsewhere, says Clayton. A vehicle was needed which could get on to a variety of aircraft catering doors, flexible enough to cope with the differing heights of door in different aircrafts. This vehicle was the answer, he says.
Vehicles supplied by Leyland Daf and Dennis are adapted by Alpha's bodybuilders. Leyland Daf sells standard chassis-cabs to Alpha, which "chops the cab in half and put the scissors on". Dennis supplies a half-cab version for conversion.
Despite its award-winning livery and highly specialised vehicles, Alpha Airports does not have things all its own way.
One problem it has to deal with is lack of space, dealing with airport congestion which means moving large vehicles in confined areas right next to extremely valuable aircraft.
The other is time pressure as intense as you'll find anywhere in the industry. Airlines work to schedules which are getting tougher all the time, so everyone wants the plane to go on time.
And as Clayton remarks: "We have to finish our job before it can go."
71 by Mary Arigho