Bangkok--Mar 7--SAS
SAS to Shift Global Departure Control Centre to Bangkok, Scandinavian Airlines is to open a Global Central Departure Control Centre in Bangkok as of 11 March 2002. 25 Thai staff are being hired to man the sophisticated computerised centre which will be responsible for clearing the departures of roughly 250 out of SAS 1,100 flights world-wide.
The Departure Control Centres are being relocated to Bangkok from Helsinki, London and New York as part of a cost-saving exercise. SAS will become the first airline to have such a centre in Thailand.
The Central Departure Control Centres are responsible for coordination of passenger, baggage, cargo and fuel loads on SAS aircraft as well as calculating weight and balance at the time of departure. The figures are fed into computers from any point in the world where SAS aircraft are departing and then checked at the CDC to see if everything is in order to ensure a safe flight.
Then, the final load-sheet is dispatched electronically by the CDC Centre and printed on a printer located in the cockpit of SAS aircraft. Said SAS Manager Thailand and Indochina Axel Blom, "Ensuring a correct weight and balance is a vital and very important function of the flight, contributing to SAS' primary goals: Safety, Punctuality and Service." He added, "The new Bangkok centre shall handle 250 daily SAS flights worldwide when it is in full operation at the end of 2002. It will be operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and will be located at our Bangkok office situated in Glas Haus on Sukhumvit Road.
The task of performing remote load control of flights has not previously been done on such a scale in Thailand.
Said Mr Blom, "This is a 'first' for the Kingdom, and Thailand can be proud of having been chosen as the site such a prestigious project. The process of moving the centre to Bangkok should be seen as technology transfer, and it is very much in line with the wishes of the Thai Government to promote Thailand as a technological centre in Asia. The project creates new and highly skilled job-opportunities for Thai people."
The centre will functionally report to SAS Regional Station Manager, Region Asia & Pacific and administratively to General Manager Thailand & Indochina. The Centre will be led by Khun Ruij Sangkawibha, SAS current Station Manager in Thailand, who will also double as Central Departure Control Centre Chief.
The newly-hired staff members include a mix of new graduates and people with some airline experience. All these staff members will in the coming months undergo a rigorous training programme starting with basic training of 90 days, followed by several months of on- the-job training under supervision by authorised staff who are fully trained in the use of our systems.
Said Mr Blom, "The training to become a fully licensed load control supervisor in SAS takes up to two years under normal circumstances, and we will try to speed up the process by taking in a Transition Team responsible for transfer of know-how and technical skills to the new Thai employees of the company."
The members of the Transition Team consist of SAS staff from all over the world. The objective of the Transition Team is to train and develop the knowledge and skills of the newly recruited local staff members.
"It is our intention to keep the Transition Team in Thailand for a period between 6 months and 24 months, depending on how fast we are able to train the new staff members," Mr Blom said..
Mr. Jergen Lindegaard, President & CEO of Scandinavian Airlines will officiate the opening of the CDC Centre in Bangkok on 16 March 2002, together with senior transport officials from Thailand. End.
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