Manufacturing and supplying buses designed for apron operations are very specialist fields. They’re all about quality and reliability of equipment and service provision, writes Mike Bryant
The Germany-headquartered airport bus supplier COBUS Industries describes itself as a global player in the field of airport mobility. Part of the Salvador Caetano Group and Daimler Truck, it offers a range of high-quality diesel and electric-powered buses to the aviation sector.
CEO Patricia Vasconcelos tells Airside that the continuing recovery the industry has seen in flying passenger numbers can only be good for GSE suppliers in general, and specifically for suppliers of apron buses such as COBUS.
Even better, the future growth prospects for aviation are “huge”, she notes, with more and more passengers taking to the skies. More airports are being built to meet the needs of these additional flyers, all of which means greater demand for GSE and for apron buses. It represents a “huge challenge” for a company like COBUS, but one that is “very exciting” to tackle, she says.
According to Vasconcelos, the challenge is not only to supply the new hardware but also to provide the high level of support that customers deserve as their operations grow. She observes: “We learned during Covid more than ever that we all have to be efficient and that there can be no waste of assets. That remains the case today, and while flying has to be affordable to holiday goers and business people, so too does GSE, including buses.”
There are also challenges to be met in terms of the increasingly sophisticated technologies associated with COBUS bus designs, especially their drive technologies, of today and the future, she says.
Demand on the rise
The strong recovery the aviation industry as a whole has seen is really now starting to be felt at COBUS, the company says. Last year saw good growth in sales, and the expectations are for a further uptick in 2024.
While last year many customers’ budgets remained constrained, this year the surge in demand requires investment. Indeed, of the 20% growth in sales that is predicted for this year, by late February some 70% of that forecast growth had already been met in firm orders for 2024.
Most customers continue to opt for COBUS’s classical models rather than the very highest-end specification variants, Vacsoncelos confirms, because there remains a good deal of price sensitivity in the market. A partial exception is to be found in the US, however, where expanding airports are – perhaps due to shortage of space (or money) for new terminals or terminal gates – resorting to constructing remote apron stands.
The hard times the industry felt during the coronavirus pandemic, when passenger numbers collapsed, have also left a lasting memory in the minds of some airport operators who had invested heavily in new terminals and the stands they support – some of which stood largely empty during Covid and have not yet filled to expected capacity today. Remote stands offer a more affordable choice in many cases.
Globally, of course, entirely new airports as well as expanding airports will build both gate stands and remote stands; in the latter case, COBUS and other apron bus suppliers will be in the frame for new business.
Environmentally friendly options
COBUS began offering battery-powered electric buses as far back as 2014 – an early entrant into this new technological space. In those days, it opted for very reliable but very expensive battery technology. Today, it uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are well-proven performers, offer long battery endurance and come at a lower price. Given the price sensitivity that is still a feature of today’s apron bus market, that last fact is an important consideration.
The electric e.COBUS models the company offers can be delivered in different battery sizes, ranging from 141kW to 350kW. This allows great flexibility for customers, she adds. As well as the e.COBUS models, COBUS has also developed its all-new Vega electric bus.
With a Daimler bus chassis, it is set to be powered by the NMC batteries that the German automotive specialist already uses in other vehicle lines. Two prototype Vega buses are currently being intensively tested. COBUS is taking orders for the vehicle, which is expected to be launched onto the market next year.
Also expected to enter the market in 2025 is COBUS’s innovative hydrogen cell-powered Hydra bus. This is “very special technology, and is a niche product”, says Vasconcelos. It continues to undergo development and, while its short-term prospects are being held back somewhat by the relatively slow process of introducing hydrogen supply infrastructure, some airports in Canada and the US are now making some significant steps in this regard.
An e.COBUS 3000 ER
The same can be said of some locations in the Middle East, where the region’s high temperatures (which require ongoing air conditioning, taking plenty of electric power), and the huge airport footprints over which vehicles must drive, pose challenges for battery-powered apron buses. COBUS intends to use the same hydrogen fuel cell technology that parent company Caetano has supplied in some 150 city buses in operation in Germany.
Customer service
COBUS’s Remote Expert Assistance Life (REAL) service offers interactive support from COBUS engineers for those customers looking to maintain or repair their own COBUS vehicles.
Those who have the appropriate virtual reality (VR) glasses can be advised as to what they might need to do to maintain or repair their vehicles through that equipment. The company has also launched the COBUS Academy, a training platform for customers, available either entirely remotely or through hybrid remote/in-class learning.
“We know that our customers’ workforce staff change frequently, so this really helps them,” whether drivers or engineers, says Vasconcelos.
However, COBUS also offers on-site vehicle health checks for customers who want the reassurance of COBUS engineers coming to their operations and giving their vehicles a thorough inspection there.
Finally, COBUS also offers extensive vehicle refits at its own engineering base in Porto, Portugal, where two types of refits are available. The first is a complete refurbishment of a diesel bus such that it becomes almost like a brand new bus, Vasconcelos declares. This represents a significant life-enhancement package for a vehicle, adding many years to its usable lifetime.
The second is called e.START and involves COBUS stripping out the diesel engine and associated components of a bus and replacing them with a fully electric power train. Giving the amortised vehicles a second life is the most sustainable way to start an electric bus operation, she says.
COBUS is also looking some years into the future and how demands for apron buses might change over the longer term. In particular, with the help of partners who are more specialised in this field, it is looking at the potential for autonomously operated apron buses.
Apron bus operators
David Fernandez is head of fleet for Swissport, the world’s biggest ground services provider. He and his team are responsible for seeing that all the equipment necessary for Swissport handlers to deliver their service effectively is available and on hand. Cutting across all forms of mobile ground support equipment, including cargo as well as passenger and ground handling, ‘fleet’ also includes Swissport’s apron bussing vehicles.
The ground services provider has more than 400 Airport Passenger Buses (APBs) in its fleet, of more than 30 different models. Approximately one-third of them are COBUS vehicles, with the entire fleet scattered across more than 40 stations throughout Swissport’s global network.
While COBUS vehicles remain an important part of the fleet, the regular commercial bus sector is becoming more adept at serving the airport bus market, Fernandez notes. “They offer efficient and very competitively priced alternatives” to the dedicated airport bus suppliers. Either way: “We are not uniquely tied to any one type of supplier,” he confirms.
Having so many models in service may seem to make the challenge of repair and maintenance much harder, but that is not really the case, Fernandez remarks. Buses do not represent the specialised maintenance and repair challenge that many other GSE types can.
Swissport buses and PRM
Moreover, diesel airport buses are still very similar to their city operating peers and their engineering specifications will not differ greatly. Most of the buses in the Swissport fleet are owned by the handler, although it will rent on occasion in order to offer operational flexibility, Fernandez informs. What is important to realise is that the APBs are very ‘customer facing’ – more so than any other GSE types, with the possible exclusion of passenger steps.
Hence, they are kept in tip-top shape inside and out. They are, for example, repainted and branded more carefully than other GSE types. If there are any failings on a vehicle that impact travelling customers’ comfort, the bus is likely to be taken out of service. An APB without air conditioning will not be used in hot conditions, although other GSE types might.
Comfort and aesthetics are important for the end user, while safety and availability will also be incredibly important for the airport operator. Of course, some airport authorities continue to choose to operate their own apron bussing services, keeping this task separate from outsourced under-wing handling service provision.
But when a ground services provider such as Swissport can deliver the full range of under-wing and apron bus services, there are significant synergies to be gained, says Fernandez.
Move to electric
Across all forms of powered GSE, Swissport is moving to more sustainable, electric options. It took delivery of its first electric APB in 2020 and, since then, three-quarters of the buses it has ordered have been of the battery-powered variety.
The change to electric can’t be made overnight. Buses have a long lifecycle, while some airports still don’t have the infrastructure needed for charging the vehicles. But, the electric buses on offer – while they are generally modified city buses – are of very good quality and, after modification as required to IATA Air Handling Manual (AHM) requirements and for Swissport’s APB needs, are more than suitable for apron bussing, Fernandez says.
Many airport operators are keen for their apron bus service providers to use greener vehicles. This can be seen at some of the new airports being built and going operational around the world.
However, the new gateways generally feature a range of terminal jet bridge stands (requiring no bussing), remote stand bussing, or even passengers walking from stands close to terminals.
What is important for airline operators is the cost of where they park their aircraft. Costs will depend on different factors, including the various stand charges, the cost of power provision (installed on a jet bridge or from a mobile ground power unit) and other GSE, as well as whether bussing from a remote stand is required. For low-cost carriers especially, such cost considerations can be particularly important.
High-class service
In Dubai, aviation services provider dnata – part of the Emirates Group – operates a fleet of 315 buses, of which 200 are airside passenger buses and the rest being for crew and other airside worker transport. The vast majority of its buses work at Dubai International Airport (DXB), although dnata also handles airside bussing at the Emirate’s other big air gateway at Dubai World Central (DWC).
These apron buses serve Emirates, flydubai and other airlines’ passengers. For Emirates, dnata’s biggest customer at DXB, the handler operates buses fitted out specifically for first class, business class and economy class passengers.
The aim is to provide a seamless, high-quality bussing service for all passengers whenever remote stands have to be served, all as part of “one of the biggest airside bussing operations in the world”, says Rob Powell, vice president for UAE GSE and global GSE strategy at the handler.
dnata staff maintaining COBUS apron buses
Supporting the apron bus operation is a dnata Transport Operations Centre as well as a resource management system behind the scenes that ensures optimal use of bus and driver resources based on a constantly changing operational roster. Buses are also equipped with a dedicated GSE telematics system to enable dnata to make best use of these resources.
All of dnata’s apron passenger buses are COBUS models. The handler operates various types, including the COBUS 3000XL, built specially for Emirates as an extra long bus so that even more of the carrier’s passengers can ride in comfort to or from a remote gate. For Emirates, dnata tries to limit the numbers of passengers on each bus to a maximum of 60 to 70, ensuring that each can travel in as much comfort as Emirates’ aircraft offer flying passengers, Powell states.
All the buses have engine-powered air conditioning (AC), a must-have in the heat of Dubai. As for Swissport, if a bus’s AC is inoperable, the vehicle will be taken out of service, Powell confirms.
The hydrogen option
While dnata – and Emirates as a whole – has ambitious sustainability targets and has already migrated much of its non-bus powered GSE to battery power, there are limiting factors to transferring the entire apron bus fleet to battery power.
dnata airport-tested an electric COBUS 3000 a couple of years ago, putting it through its paces in the hottest months of the Middle Eastern summer. “We wanted to understand the energy required for operating (both driving and for a running AC system) under the harshest of conditions,” Powell recalls.
It became clear that it would be a real challenge to keep a fleet of electric battery-powered buses going at DXB, given the high energy demands of operating across the huge spaces of the airport while also constantly running AC, alongside the need for rapid and extensive recharging. And DXB is a very ‘peaky’ airport, Powell notes, with huge spikes of operational intensity but few periods of complete downtime when recharging might conveniently take place.
Electric battery power requiring fixed airport recharging infrastructure – already mature technology for GSE – might just be one part of the future, Powell considers. Another major element might be hydrogen fuel cells – expected to be more prominently found in buses and some truck-mounted types of GSE – that could be used to provide battery power, such that there would be a mix of power train types across dnata’s bus and non-bus GSE fleet in Dubai.
Indeed, with just this in mind, dnata currently has a tender out for a bus ‘solution’ that encompasses potential traditional diesel or electrical battery or hydrogen fuel cell alternatives.
Of course, the necessary hydrogen fuel cell infrastructure would be totally new. dnata is already talking to DXB (and other partners, including government-owned company Emirates National Oil Company, or ENOC) about hydrogen options. Certainly the fact that solar energy – which can be used to produce hydrogen for fuel cells – is so prevalently available in Dubai is a positive first step, as is the fact that Dubai as a whole is so set on a very sustainable future.
In fact, ENOC had a hydrogen filling station set up at the COP 28 climate change conference held in Dubai in December, demonstrating the viability of a hydrogen fuel supply in Dubai.
Prior preparation and planning
For the moment though, the priority is to deliver a reliable, high-quality apron bussing service. Key to that is careful ongoing planning to ensure comprehensive rosters are managed and resources are carefully allocated to optimise service supply. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” Powell declares.
Meanwhile, its Transport Operations Centre enables dnata to quickly adapt to any change in operating circumstances, or any sudden requirements, such as handling wheelchair passengers or unexpected crew movements.
