Aircraft ground handling in the context of "Lufthansa"

The airport apron, apron, flight line, or ramp is the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, boarded, or maintained. Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as lighting on vehicles, it is typically more accessible to users than the runway or taxiway. However, the apron is not usually open to the general public, and a permit may be required to gain access. An apron's designated areas for aircraft parking are called aircraft stands.

By extension, the term apron is also used to identify the air traffic control (ATC) position responsible for coordinating movement on this surface at busier airports. When the aerodrome control tower does not have control over the apron, the use of the apron may be controlled by an apron management service (also known as apron control or apron advisory) to provide coordination between the users. Apron control allocates aircraft parking stands (gates) and communicates this information to tower or ground control and to airline handling agents; it also authorises vehicle movements where they could conflict with taxiing aircraft such as outside of painted road markings. The authority responsible for the aprons is also responsible for relaying to ATC information about the apron conditions such as water, snow, construction or maintenance works on or adjacent to the apron, temporary hazards such as birds or parked vehicles, systems failure etc. Procedures should be established for a coordinated information provision between the aircraft, vehicle, apron control unit and ATC to facilitate the orderly transition of aircraft between the apron management unit and the aerodrome control tower.

Airport check-in is the process whereby an airline approves airplane passengers to board an airplane for a flight. Airlines typically use service counters found at airports for this process, and the check-in is normally handled by an airline itself or a handling agent working on behalf of an airline. Passengers usually hand over any baggage that they do not wish or are not allowed to carry in the aircraft's cabin and receive a boarding pass before they can proceed to board their aircraft.

Check-in is usually the first procedure for a passenger when arriving at an airport, as airline regulations require passengers to check in by certain times prior to the departure of a flight. This duration spans from 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on the destination and airline (with self check in, this can be expanded to 30 days, if checking in by online processes). During this process, the passenger often has the ability to ask for special accommodations such as seating preferences, inquire about flight or destination information, accumulate frequent flyer program miles, or pay for upgrades. The required time is sometimes written in the reservation, sometimes written somewhere in websites, and sometimes only referred as "passengers should allow sufficient time for check-in".

Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide, commonly known as Fraport, is a German transport company which operates Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt am Main and holds interests in the operation of several other airports around the world. In the past the firm also managed the smaller Frankfurt-Hahn Airport located 130 kilometers west of the city. It is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and also through the exchange's Xetra trading system. The company's shares are included in the MDAX. The company's current chief executive officer is Stefan Schulte [de]. As of 2019, the company has 22,514 employees and annual revenues of about €3.3 billion. Fraport was the main sponsor of the Bundesliga football team Eintracht Frankfurt from 2002 to 2012.

Fraport AG is also involved in ground handling operations at its own operated airports and at third-party operated airports. It mostly operates ground handling services in a deregulated context. Fraport was also involved to make Frankfurt Airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport ready for Airbus A380 operations.

Ground support equipment (GSE) is the support equipment found at an airport, usually on the apron, the servicing area by the terminal. This equipment is used to service the aircraft between flights. As the name suggests, ground support equipment is there to support the operations of aircraft whilst on the ground. The role of this equipment generally involves ground power operations, aircraft mobility, and cargo/passenger loading operations.

Many airlines subcontract ground handling to an airport or a handling agent, or even to another airline. Ground handling addresses the many service requirements of a passenger aircraft between the time it arrives at a terminal gate and the time it departs for its next flight. Speed, efficiency, and accuracy are important in ground handling services in order to minimize the turnaround time (the time during which the aircraft remains parked at the gate).

TAV Airports Holding (Turkish: TAV Havalimanları Holding) is a Turkish airport operation and services firm that is part of Groupe ADP. It is one of the world's largest airport operators, providing services to 1 million flights and 152 million passengers in 2018. Today, it is the leading airport operator in Turkey and also provides duty free, food and beverage, ground handling, IT and security services.