Europe is where Global GSA Group was first established – in the Netherlands, back in 1995. It has since developed into an internationally active airline representative, reaching well beyond Europe’s borders and ranking among the world’s top 5 global GSAs. Yet, Global GSA Group’s presence in Europe is both its core strength and its favourite challenge.
“Europe is such a multifaceted continent. Our airlines face tough competition and a great deal of capacity in the market, which lead to low yields in comparison to other large and important regions,” says Ismail Durmaz, Chief Executive Officer of Global GSA Group. “On the other hand, there is huge cross-border potential, and it is easy to truck to other countries. Global GSA Group has been active in this market for almost 30 years, and we have every conceivable strategy in place to provide the optimum support to our airlines. Our steep and continuing growth curve is testimony to the fact that they work, too.”
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Global GSA Group today employs 224 staff (a healthy mix of 58% women and 42% men), in 25 European countries. That number is soon set to grow to 26, with the opening of its first office in Malta in the summer. 2023 will also see the teams in Belgium, the Nordics, Italy, and United Kingdom expand to meet the group’s increasing number of airline customers.
“China Southern was our first airline partner in Europe. Now, we serve 52 airlines, here,” Ismail Durmaz explains. “And it is fascinating to see how the air cargo market is changing. CMA CGM Air Cargo is our most recent customer, bringing a whole new angle into the business.” Two key drivers ensure the group’s ongoing business success: the first is the right processes and digital tools. Global GSA Group recently partnered with CargoTech and deploys the latest in digital optimization and efficiency solutions.
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The second driver is its people. “As a group we have implemented a strategic approach to attracting, maintaining, and developing our staff. We aim to increase the number of employees with certain skills and certifications and provide ongoing training to keep up with these new developments in our field,” Ismail Durmaz emphasizes. Employees have access to a number of training and development programs, from on-the-job training, to mentoring, online courses via the company’s own internal platform, workshops, seminars, conferences, fairs, and events, tackling every aspect of air cargo: dangerous goods, sales techniques, management, accounting, statistics, security, IATA, digital tools, and sustainability. A dedicated Global GSA Group training team develops and carries out training on site, ensuring that the content is always up to date.
“There’s a saying: ‘If you want a job done well, do it yourself!’. When an airline outsources its cargo management to us, we strive to modify that saying to ‘If you want a job done exceptionally well, give it to Global GSA Group!’” states Ismail Durmaz. “Our role as a GSA is to provide the ultimate all-service airline representation in the air cargo market, while fully maintaining the airline’s unique identity. Each and every one of our employees has three winning passions: cargo, innovation, and top-quality service. And, since Europe is where Global GSA Group began, any airline partnering with us can be certain that they are buying into unparalleled local expertise coupled with a proven successful global management vision. Despite the air cargo market suffering a significant downturn in the first quarter of this year, Global GSA Group is proud to have performed above market, ensuring that our partner carriers’ market shares increased. Our company motto is ‘We make the impossible possible’, and that is what we live up to, every day.”
