Aircraft ground handling

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), conservative estimates indicate airlines outsource more than 50 per cent of the ground handling that takes place at the world's airports.

[3] Airlines with less-frequent service or fewer resources at a particular location sometimes subcontract ground handling or on-call aircraft maintenance to another airline, as it is a short-term cheaper alternative to setting up its own ground handling or maintenance capabilities.

Airlines may participate in an industry-standard Mutual Assistance Ground Service Agreement (MAGSA).

The MAGSA is published by the Air Transport Association (the current version is from 1981) and is used by airlines to assess prices for maintenance and support to aircraft at so-called MAGSA Rates, which are updated annually based on changes in the U.S. Producer Price Index.

Most ground services are not directly related to the actual flying of the aircraft, and instead involve other tasks.

Aircraft ground handling of a Lufthansa Airbus A380 at Frankfurt Airport in Germany .
Icelandair Boeing 757 being serviced by another airline; SAS at Gardermoen Airport
A ground-handling tug pulls a British Airways Boeing 747-400 at Heathrow Airport , England
Airbus A380-800 operated by Qatar Airways on apron outside Heathrow Terminal 4 with a wide range of ground handling equipments around such as aircraft container, pallet loader, ULD , jet air starter, belt loader, pushback tug , catering vehicles and dollies.
Catering-truck at Chania International Airport .
Credit: Marius Vassnes
Luggage being unloaded from a Northwest Airlines Boeing 757-200 at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
A British Airways aircraft being refueled
KLM Pushback tractor and a ground power unit
Lavatory drainage
Business jet cleaning