Sustainability of the Air Cargo Handling Process in the Context of Safety and Environmental Aspects

In addition to passenger traffic, air cargo business is an important business for a global air transport industry. This means that Air Cargo Handling Process (ACHP) is important for any airport or cargo handling agent who provides cargo handling services. To qualitatively manage the ACHP, certain prerequisites must be met, such as competent cargo staff, procedures, cargo information system, infrastructure with enough capacity, and process management. The objective of research presented in this paper is ACHP and its complex structure but in the context of safety and sustainability. Using of several scientific methods of cognition, the authors research the structure of ACHP and safety, and ecological aspects of the process, too. The result of this research is the safety and environmental aspects of the process which are of significant importance for process functionality as well as for the quality level of service that meets customer requirements and to the sustainability of process. Results show that there is a significant impact of the environmental and safety aspects specific to particular activities in ACHP and that they affect the reliability and functionality of the whole process, its profitability, and competitiveness. This points to the need for ACHP to be viewed in context and to understand ACHP sustainability matters and sustainability components.