Airport Handling Manual

AHM 801
INTRODUCTION TO AND COMMENTS ON IATA STANDARD
GROUND HANDLING AGREEMENT (SGHA)

DEFINITION OF STANDARD GROUND HANDLING AGREEMENT

A ground handling agreement is a “Standard Ground Handling Agreement” when, and only when, the wording of its Main
Agreement and of its Annex A corresponds, without any alteration whatsoever, to the text published in AHM 810.
Any differences from the standard text agreed between the Parties are to be recorded in Annex(es) B formatted in accordance
with this procedure.
GENERAL
It shall be noted that only the English version of a signed IATA (SGHA) is to be considered valid. Translation of the same
Agreement can be made to facilitate mutual understanding of agreed services.
SERVICES
The term Services is intended to refer to activity/work as well as use of resources such as manpower, equipment or facilities.

1. STRUCTURE OF THE AGREEMENT

The Agreement consists of three parts.

Main Agreement
For ease of reference, the sub-divisions of the Main Agreement are known as Articles and Sub-Articles. This is the basic
agreement in which the Parties concerned agree on the legal and administration clauses such as:
Date of effectiveness;
termination period;
liability and indemnity (see note);
accounting and transfer;
standard of work, etc.
Note: With reference to Sub-Article 1.8 of the Main Agreement, once a Main Agreement has been concluded, it applies to all
handling services to be performed by the Handling Company for the Carrier, at any location, where Annex A and/or Annex B
does not exist for the location in question. In the case of a locally signed Ground Handling Charge Note, the terms and conditions
of this charge note take precedence.

Annex A
For ease of reference, the sub-divisions of Annex A are known as Sections, Sub-Sections and Items. This part of the
agreement lists and describes ground handling activities.

Annex(es) B
For ease of reference, the sub-divisions of Annex(es) B are known as Paragraphs and Sub-Paragraphs. Please note that
neither the Paragraphs' titles nor their contents represent mandatory wording or stated policies. In this document(s) the location
where the services will be provided is stated, together with the handling services chosen from Annex A and the agreed handling
fee(s) for such services. Annex B should be used to record other ground handling matters which are agreed upon during the
negotiations for example: deviation(s) from the Main Agreement; fee for technical landings; extra services, etc., when required. If
the parties so agree, the text may be amended to show that charges are based on mutually agreed methods, e.g. per kilogram
handled, per sector, per month or per technical services rendered. Additional Paragraphs may be inserted as required.
Guidance for completing an Annex B can be found in the current Standard Ground Handling Agreement Training Program.

744 40TH EDITION, JANUARY 2020

 Ground Handling Agreements—AHM 801

2. USE OF THE AGREEMENT

General
It is recommended to use the latest version of the Standard Ground Handling Agreement. The contracting parties shall agree on
the Version of SGHA to be used.
The following grammatical rules have been used within AHM 810 & AHM 811:
• Defined terms under “Definitions and Terminology” start with capital letters, for example “Ticket” or “Carrier’s Aircraft
• Common industry terms (not defined under “Definition and Terminology”) are written in parenthesis and start with capital
letters followed by the abbreviation in brackets, for example: “Safety Management System” (SMS)
• Phrases comprised of defined words/terms and non-defined words/terms such as will not be capitalized, for example
“Passenger” (defined) and “counter” (not defined) will be “passenger counter” because it is not defined term
• [as specified in Annex B] is always written in squared brackets. It means that a user of the SGHA shall insert the user’s own
text within these brackets
• In Annex A, double dots (colon “:”) and dots (full stop “.”) at the end of the sentence are not typically used
• In Annex A, the first word (including within multiple choices) starts with a capital letter and the text continues with small
letters as continuation of that sentence (unless it is a defined term e.g. Carrier, Annex B) as per example below:

(a) Prepare
(b) Request
(c) Obtain
the Carrier's
1. landing
2. overflying
3. other, [as specified in Annex B]
permission, at the airport location(s), [as specified in Annex B] for
(i) seasonal/scheduled flights
(ii) ad hoc flights

The Main Agreement and Annex A

These documents are concluded once between the parties concerned. The parties are not specified here as being either “the
Handling Company” or “the Carrier”.

Annex B
An appropriate Annex B is generally concluded per location and specifies which party is “the Handling Company” and which party
is “the Carrier” at that particular location.
One Annex B can be concluded covering several locations together where the terms and conditions are similar. More than one
Annex B may be issued for the same location to cover different services. There is no limit to the number of Annexes B. Examples
can be found in the current IATA Standard Ground Handling Agreement Training Program. Additional alpha-numerics may be
used for company purposes.
It is recommended that Annex(es) B be numbered to facilitate administration, and that the format used for such numbering be
“e.g. Annex B1.0”, where the first numeric represents location/service number, and the second numeric represents revision
number.

Numbering of Annex B
Recommended Numbering of Annex B:

40TH EDITION, JANUARY 2020 745

 Airport Handling Manual

The term “Annex B” is a generic term used to define a concept, i.e. the variable component of an SGHA. In actual practice for
positive identification, an Annex is not designated simply by that simple letter B, but by an alpha-numeric sequence made up of:
(a) the prefix B (differentiating it from A);
(b) a number identifying a particular scope of services at one or more locations giving for instance B1;
(c) a period (.);
(d) a number identifying the chronologically successive revisions of that Annex; B1.0, then B1.1, etc.

Referencing of Annex A items in Annex B

Parentheses will be used to define the sub-item e.g. 6.2.2 (a)8 means perform the following functions in the Carrier’s system:
cargo handling.
Comma is used in Annex A to segregate one service item from another. For example 6.2.2(a)1, 6.2.2(b)8 means perform the
following function in the Carrier’s system: training and perform the following function in Handling Company’s system: cargo
handling.
Dash is used to include series of services starting with the service before the dash and ending with the service after dash. For
example: 6.2.2(a)1-3 means: Perform all services between 1 and 3 inclusive. This means performing the following functions in
Carrier’s system: training AND passenger reservations AND sales and passenger services.

Simplified Procedure
The Parties concerned may elect to use the Simplified Procedure that does not require execution of the Main Agreement and
Annex A as specified above. If the parties agree to use the Simplified Procedure, they should use the version of Annex B entitled
“Standard Ground Handling Agreement Simplified Procedure” as shown in AHM 810.
“Effective from” date relates to the Main Agreement. It is the date selected by both parties as marking the beginning of their
contractual relationship using the specific version of the SGHA. It forms part of the identification of the SGHA between these
parties and, as such, will remain unchanged during the life of that agreement and all its annexes. The date of effectiveness of the
Main Agreement generally coincides with the date of validity of the first Annex B1.0.
“Valid from” date relates to the start date of any particular Annex Bx.x. Since any Annex Bx.x is dependent on the Main
Agreement, the date of validity can never precede the “Effective from” date of the Main Agreement.

3. COMMENTS ON THE MAIN AGREEMENT

Sub-Article 1.2
The meaning of documents in this Sub-Article references documents such as loadsheet, NOTOC, loading instruction report,
passenger manifest, etc., whereas stationery such as boarding passes, bag tags, etc. are not considered as documents.
Sub-Article 5.1
If the Carrier and/or the Handling Company based their procedures on the IGOM, both parties should inform each other about the
variations to IGOM. The Carriers procedures prevail as per 5.1, unless otherwise agreed.
Sub-Article 5.2
It is required that the Handling Company and its Sub-Contractor(s) personnel are trained to meet the requirements and
instructions of the Carrier, when providing services with a safety aspect such as load control, loading of aircraft and particularly
the handling of dangerous goods. The Handling Company and its Sub-Contractor(s) must ensure that their personnel carry out
only the duties for which they have been trained.
Sub-Article 5.3
Following ISAGO Manual does not mandate ISAGO certification.
Article 8
The text of Article 8 may be revised in Annex B as different legal systems and prevailing conditions make it very difficult to
present an Article 8 that can be acceptable and workable universally.
When assessing liability and indemnity under IATA Article 8.5 of the Main Agreement, it is intended that no reference should be
made to the contents of IATA AHM 660. The contents of IATA AHM 660 are intended to be used solely for the purpose of
calculating and capturing cost data and not for assessing overall liability and indemnity as outlined in Article 8.
Acceptance of the definitions for Truck Services (as listed in AHM 810) will imply that the handling contract covers the liability for
truck handling as defined, but not for truck service which remains outside the scope of the handling agreement.
Article 11
When serving notice in accordance with Sub-Articles 11.3, 11.6 or 11.10, any notice given by one party under the Article 11 shall
be deemed properly given if sent by Registered Letter, overnight courier, facsimile, e-mail where proof of receipt or
acknowledgement is obtained, to the respective office of the other Party as recorded in the Annex(es) B. in the case of a
registered letter notice shall be considered to be served on the date of receipt. Due consideration shall be given to mail delivery
in order to comply with stated notice periods.
When notwithstanding Sub-Articles 11.4 and/or 11.5 due consideration should be given to Sub-Article 11.11

746 40TH EDITION, JANUARY 2020

 Ground Handling Agreements—AHM 801

4. COMMENTS ON ANNEX A
General
Annex A is a list of services that may be performed. Not all of these services are performed for every flight.
According to the definitions and terminology in the Standard Ground Handling Agreement, the following options are
recommended to be used:
• ‘Provide’ a service (‘Provide’ and ‘Subcontract’ is also possible);
• ‘Arrange for’ a service
Due to implication of liability, caution should be taken in selecting the ‘Provide’ or ‘Arrange for’ options of the Annex A items.
Failing to select in your Annex B either “Provide” or “Arrange For” may create a misinterpretation that could have a cost impact.
There should always be one option selected.
Sub-Section 1.3
This is intended to cover cases when the Carrier requires a supervisory and/or coordination agent (this could be a Handling
Company) to supervise and/or coordinate the handling performed by others in contract with the Carrier. For this purpose a SGHA
is concluded between the Carrier and the service provider.
The Annex B shall list applicable services of Sub-Section 1.3 as well as specify which services of other Sections have to be
supervised and/or coordinated.
Item 1.4.9
A Complaints Resolution Officer (CRO) responsibilities are defined in title 14 CFR 382.151 as published by the Federal
Government of the United States.
Item 2.1.3
Services 2. and 6. cannot be contracted in countries where it is part of the airport infrastructure; for example EU countries.
Item 2.1.9
There are two ways to contract ticketing. Ticketing functions can be contracted under AHM 810. Extended ticketing functions can
be contracted under General Sales Agreements or IATA Transportation Documents Service Agreements as published in AHM
815.
Item 2.2.3 (a)
In this sub item the wording “not having access to Information that will verify visa validities” does not release the Handling
Company from their obligations whilst checking other travel documents.
Item 2.2.4
Baggage figures means actual weight and/or actual number of pieces, as applicable.
Item 2.2.7
For all check-in other than at airport check-in counter baggage conveyance needs to be specified in Annex B.
Items 2.2.12, 2.3.2 and 2.4.5
These texts are not necessarily intended to indicate that the Handling Company must employ personnel in the performance of
these services, but that sign posting and other commonly used media are also covered by this item.
Item 3.1.10
Is designed to provide compliance with IATA Resolution 753.
Item 3.5.2
Communication can be performed via headset, visual signals or other means as mutually agreed.
Item 3.6.9
Item 3.6.9 is not designed to cover the provision of security personnel which is covered in 7.4.4. This Item is designed to ensure
the handler undertakes physical measures to protect loads requiring special handling e.g. VAL items to be stored in a secure
area, temperature sensitive items to be kept out of the sun or snow.
Sub-Section 3.10
The Parties are encouraged to establish detailed cleaning specifications. When extensive cleaning is performed, the charge
should be calculated in such a way that the cost element for basic cleaning is not duplicated in both the basic handling charge
and the additional charge covering extensive cleaning.
Item 3.10.3
Cabin items include among others safety cards, airline magazines, newspapers, menus, headphones, movies, tapes, children's
toys, playing cards and/or other entertainment items as agreed.
Sub-Section 3.16
The minimum requirements to accomplish an aircraft deicing/anti-icing operation are specified in the AS6285 document.

40TH EDITION, JANUARY 2020 747

 Airport Handling Manual

Section 5
“Truck Services” and therefore “truck” is a defined term within the SGHA and any reference to “truck” should be mindful of this
definition.
Item 5.1.1
The handling charge will normally cover a short time limit for such storage. This time limit should be agreed between the Handling
Company and the Carrier for each location.
A distinction may be made in Annex B for the apportionment of storage cost for export, import and transfer cargo.
Item 5.4.1
The SGHA is an agreement between a Carrier and a Handling Company and is not designed to cover any functions that take
place prior to the acceptance of the Cargo. These areas are subject to a separate agreements. This particularly applies to the
unloading of local export cargo from vehicles. Truck service handling is separately covered under section 5.4.7.
Item 5.4.6
The SGHA is an agreement between a Carrier and a Handling Company and is not designed to cover any functions that take
place after the release of the Cargo. These areas are subject to a separate agreements. This particularly applies to the loading of
local import cargo onto vehicles. Truck service handling is separately covered under section 5.4.7.
Item 5.4.6(4d)
This relates to release at the airport only. Any location off airport should be specified in Annex(es) B.
Item 6.2.1
The Computer hardware is including e.g. computer at check-in desks, automated self-check-in devices, and automated and self-
baggage drop-off points.
Item 6.2.2
Allocation of charges arising from the use of any system(s) should be agreed upon between the Parties (i.e. CUTE charges).
Item 6.2.3 (3)
Hosting is meant to mean “IT” hosting and not the provision of front of house staff to assist in the use of the terminals which by
definition are “self-service devices”.
Item 6.6.1
This relates to services performed on landside of the airport and not on airside, which is covered under items 3.6.2 and 3.6.5.

5. OTHER
CLARIFICATION OF MESSAGE SENDING/PROCESSING
When specific reference is made to certain types of messages which are to be sent and processed, this is not intended to limit
the requirements to the message types mentioned, it being well understood that numerous other types of messages may be
necessary to be sent or processed in connection with the services which are being provided.

USE OF YELLOW PAGES

The Standard Ground Handling Agreement (SGHA) is not revised on a yearly basis. The ‘Yellow Pages’ of the Airport Handling
Manual are therefore used to publish text, which was developed between two versions of the Standard Ground Handling
Agreement.
This text can be used in the SGHA Annex B or simplified annex B at any time.
If any yellow pages text is used it is recommended that it be identified as a separate paragraph of the applicable Annex B in the
format shown below:

Example:
Yellow pages text applicable to this agreement
Main agreement
e.g. Unit Load Device (ULD) Definition and Terminology
e.g. - NIL (if no change), or; Sub–Article 7.1 (AHM 37th edition Jan 2017 yellow pages)
Annex A
e.g. - NIL (if no change), or;
Sub-section 5.7 (AHM 35th edition Jan 2015 yellow pages)
AHM 811–YELLOW PAGES

748 40TH EDITION, JANUARY 2020