SOE
in the mid 90`s, BAA tried to limit the number of handlers to 2 per terminal, if i remember rightly (a long time ago!). the good old EU got involved and the ruling was that this was anti-competitive. the result was the opposite to what BAA wanted in that LHR had to be opened up to any handler who could show that they were qualified to do the job. hence in 1999 the addition of Plane and Globeground, and in more recent years SAS and Menzies.
so as far as i am aware there is no upper limit to handlers, although we now have too many handlers chasing too little business. what we are now seeing is handlers like menzies and cobalt aligning themselves with global airline alliances, and with the alliances grouping around specific terminals, we may eventually see the plan that BAA had all those years ago finally coming into being.
Last edited by cjhants; 10th Jun 2009 at 07:55.