Greek tourism proved to be a driving force for the recovery of the Greek’ economy during 2104. For Goldair Group, the year saw many important agreements taking place in all three basic sections of the group`s activity, namely ground handling, tourism, freight forwarding and logistics.
In 2014, Goldair Handling increased its market share in Athens International Airport for a fourth consecutive year with its market share reaching %70, in total 36% more flights were served while achieved earnings` growth led to a 15% increase in turnover. The company furthermore proceeded with investments amounting to €2 million in equipment, mainly concerning equipment needs for passengers with reduced mobility at regional airports.
Along with the extension of contracts with existing major customers, new agreements were also signed with important airlines, including Air Armenia, Air Malta, Ellinair, Eurolot, Gulf Air, Monarch and Singapore Airlines.
The company also proceeded with recruitment and increasing its human resources with 450 permanent new jobs, many of which employed employees in the 25- 35 year age group, an age group which faces the highest unemployment rates.
At an international level, Goldair Handling, as a founding member of the European ground handling alliance ground.net, strengthened its presence in the European and global ground handling market through offering airlines homogeneous ground handling services at the alliance network’s 34 airports. The founding members of ground.net including Goldair Handling, Aeroground Munich and AAS Zurich, are expected to be joined by three new members by summer 2015, which will add a further 15 airports to the alliance’s network.
In 2014, Goldair Handling also expanded its activities at the airport of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, through signing a 6-year agreement with ICAS for the provision of consultancy and commercial and operational management services with regards to the company’s full operation as the second service provider following the abolition of the monopoly in that airport. Finally, Goldair Handling is also participating in an international consortium for the provision of ground handling services at three airports in Saudi Arabia, in the cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam.
The company continues its presence abroad, in Cyprus (Larnaca, Paphos) and Bulgaria (Sofia and Burgas) while in July 2014, the company was granted the license to operate at Varna Airport, the 3rd largest airport in Bulgaria. Goldair Handling Bulgaria added Air Malta, Flydubai, Germania, Smartlynx, Tarom and Yamal to its list of clients while new contracts were signed for Cyprus with Siberia / S7, Qatar Airways and Wizz Air.
With its current network structure and client base, the company operates in 31 airports in total, employs 2,000 permanent and 500 seasonal employees in Greece and 700 employees abroad, while for 2014, it is expected to serve more than 100,000 flights, 20 million passengers and 33,000 tons of freight.
For yet another year, Goldair Cargo continued its steady development, achieving a 13% growth in freight transferred and a 5%, increase in its turnover while managing to retain all of its workforce. The Company’s submission of a non-binding interest proposal for the tender for the Thriasio freight center, a project expected to be a pillar for the development and extroversion of the Greek supply chain, is considered an important step as it highlights our country’s status as a transit and logistics hub for South East Europe.
Finally, the significant agreement concluded with the Austrian state railway company Rail Cargo Logistics Austria, to create a joint venture providing rail freight services distinctively named “Rail Cargo Logistics – Goldair” proved to be another key benchmark. The new company scheduled for 2015, will undertake total investments of €6 million for the development of its rail freight resulting in the creation of a distribution network that will link all the countries between the North Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
As of July 2014, Goldair is the General Sales Agent and representative of Air Astana (national carrier of the Republic of Kazakhstan) in Greece. Goldair represents a total of more than 25 foreign airlines for both passenger and cargo. In 2014, Goldair Tourism, in the context of continuously strengthening its position in the field of M.I.C.E (Meetings, Incentives, Congresses, Events), managed to expand its customer base beyond the pharmaceutical industry that it has traditionally served, through a more active approach towards all business sectors, an approach that was received very well by large industries, commercial companies and banking institutions alike.
Along with the continuous development of the aforementioned tourism activities, Goldair Tourism has developed other sectors such as seaman travel as well as medical tourism. Medical tourism is expected to be fully developed in cooperation with the new Greek Medical Tourism Council, of which Goldair Tourism is a founding member (the main objective of ELITOUR is to establish Greece as a health tourism destination).
Goldair Congress organized a multitude of both Greek and European medical meetings and congresses, including the 8th European Congress of Nutrition attended by 1,500 participants and the 10th National Conference of Optical Optometrists which was held simultaneously with the 17th HELMO optical equipment exhibition which 1,400 participants attended.
Goldeco has been active in the development, implementation and management of renewable energy, focusing in solar and hydro power as well as biogas plants, while actively contributing to the protection of the environment.
Goldeco has a diversified portfolio of renewable energy projects of 4.5 MW in total. The company constructed and operates a 1 MW solar park which was connected to the energy grid in 2011. Towards the end of 2015, the company anticipates the construction of a 2MW hydroelectric project in the prefecture of Serres and is developing a 1.5MW biogas power plant in Trikala.
Today, Goldair Group and its associated companies employ more than 3,000 employees in Greece, while approximately 700 are employed abroad.
