Zafire

Zafire is an aviation software company registered in England. It started in 1999 and makes the FIRST suite of software for airlines, airports and ground handlers. The company says its products are used at more than 350 airports around the world. It has offices in the United Kingdom and in Sydney, Australia.

FIRST ramp

FIRST ramp is Zafire's turnaround management system for ground handling. It records every ground service in real time, helps plan staff and equipment, and gives managers reports to improve the operation. Billing and contract management are built in, so completed services turn into invoices without paperwork.

• Service capture: track every ground service as it happens.
• Resource planning: manage staff and equipment to meet demand.
• Business intelligence: reports for ongoing improvement.

Airpro, which provides aviation services at 11 airports in Finland, moved from paper turnaround records to FIRST ramp. Supervisors now see the ramp live, and completed turns become checked billing records. Widerøe also uses FIRST ramp for ground handling.

Other FIRST products

• FIRST bag: baggage reconciliation, with full IATA 753 compliance. Vienna International Airport uses it.
• FIRST load: load control and load planning.
• FIRST asset: tracking of airport assets.
• FIRST light and FIRST view: video walls and flight information displays.
• FIRST checkin, FIRST PRM and FIRST flight: check-in, help for passengers with reduced mobility, and flight management.

Firsts

Zafire says it was the first baggage reconciliation provider to fully connect with the Star Alliance Bag Messaging Hub, and an early provider of a mobile BRS app that could be downloaded from app stores. By 2009, it says, 95% of international traffic in Australia used Zafire products.

Contact

UK: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX, phone +44 1295 701 810. Australia: 368 Sussex St, Sydney NSW 2000, phone +61 1800 923473.