“We’re proud of our heritage as one of Scotland’s long-standing and well-known businesses which has constantly evolved throughout its 188 year history and now we are investing in our digital capabilities in order to future-proof our business,” said Robert Fordree, executive vice president, cargo, Menzies.
Founded in 1833, Menzies Aviation has come a long way to be the company it is today, with more than 200 locations in more than 35 countries, across six continents.
Bolstering tech solutions
Fordree notes that Menzies dedicated vice president is driving the development of the company’s digital strategy and is bolstering tech solutions worldwide.
“Some of our current focus areas include looking at how to engage with forwarders for deliveries, which is particularly important at present given the necessity for a reduction in human interaction and touch-points,” said Fordree.
“We are also exploring new-generation autonomous vehicles, such as driverless forklifts, to ensure the highest levels of efficiency and safety for both our operations and people.”
Journey to carbon neutrality
The Scottish company has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2033. This ambition target is 17 years ahead of the UK Governments goal of being net-zero by 2050.
“We’re starting to engage with airport authorities about the use of electric ground handling equipment, as we’re looking to increasingly implement modern technology across our global operations to accelerate our journey towards carbon neutrality.
“A key focus area is the integration of electric charging points across our stations, but this needs to be done in close collaboration with the airport authorities. We’re moving towards an all-electric fleet, however some technological developments still need to take place in order to support this transition, such as the capabilities of airport grids.
“Elsewhere, we’re supporting initiatives such as paperless systems, to streamline our work and further reduce our business’ impact on the environment. In our warehouses, we’ve installed LED lighting systems to ensure that our carbon emissions are reduced across all aspects of our operations.
“We are also looking into offsetting projects and how this could play a part in our sustainability efforts. It is important that we engage with our airline partners to ensure that these initiatives can have maximum impact and form part of the wider industry move towards carbon neutrality.”
From Scotland to the world
Fordree explained how Menzies are focusing on emerging markets like Pakistan and Iraq to look at how the company can expand operations, as some of the more traditional markets having become quite saturated.
“Through acquisitions, organic growth and strategic partnerships, we have successfully expanded our operations from 36 stations to 53 across our cargo network. We see great potential for further growth in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.
“Our ventures in these markets present exciting opportunities to accelerate the growth of burgeoning aviation sectors. In Iraq and Pakistan we are playing a key role in training-up the local workforce to ensure world-class safety standards and customer experience for our cargo handling operations.
“More recently, we’ve been guided by our airline partners and their growth strategies, which has meant that we have entered into markets in the Americas to offer services to our partners there.
“We will continue to work very closely with our partners to identify further opportunities for their businesses and ours alike as we progress further into the post-pandemic recovery period.”
