BAFS teams up with global partner, flying through Covid headwinds, with ‘net zero’ goal

The prolonged Covid-19 situation is having a tremendous impact on the aviation industry and heavily affecting several related businesses such aviation refuelling.

ML Nathasit Diskul, president of Bangkok Aviation Fuel Services (BAFS), a leading aircraft refuelling service provider with nearly 40 years of experience, said in a company press release that the crisis had forced the global airline industry to plunge to its worst pace in a century.

The International Air Transport Association predicts aviation-related businesses are expected to surpass their pre-Covid levels in 2024, with approximately 4 billion passengers per year worldwide. This number is expected to gradually double to 8 billion passengers a year by 2040.

The figures also indicate that aviation ground services equipment would need to increase to meet growing demand. This is in line with the BAFS’s commitment to sustainable operations, through the development and adoption of advanced technology, which will enhance the efficiency of aviation fuel services with global standards, the company said.

“BAFS Group’s main revenue comes from aviation refuelling,” Nathasit said. “We have a fleet of around 80 hydrant dispensers and refuellers, considered one of the largest in Asean, stationed at Don Mueang International Airport and Suvarnabhumi International Airport. We plan to increase the proportion of our revenue from the company’s core business to 50 per cent and the remainder of the revenue, which comes mainly from our subsidiaries in the utilities and renewable energy businesses.

“For our utility business, we have the largest fuel pipeline network in Asean. Our delivery capacity is approximately 9 billion litres per year. Within the next five years, our renewable energy business is expected to expand and is likely to become our significant source of revenue,” he said.

This led to the establishment of a subsidiary named BAFS Intech Company Limited in 2018, with BAFS and Uniwave Company Limited holding 90 per cent and 10 per cent of the total shares, respectively, "bringing together the strengths of BAFS and Uniwave to create favourable synergy".

BAFS Intech managing director Aniruth Boonyatirana said the firm’s core business involves the assembly of an electrically powered aviation refuelling vehicle, also known as an EV hydrant dispenser, and refueller, together with maintenance services. In addition to manufacturing aviation refuelling vehicles to be delivered to BAFS, the company also supplies similar products to other Thai customers as well as clients in foreign countries such as Laos and Myanmar.

BAFS Intech recently joined forces with Spain’s Iturri, the world’s leading manufacturer of aircraft refuelling vehicles, to accelerate its battery electric vehicle (BEV) production in the hydrant dispensers.

To promote environmentally friendly and 100-per-cent electrically powered innovations, the vehicles can ensure net-zero carbon dioxide emissions while being able to reach a maximum running distance of 170 kilometres and refuel an average of eight fights on a single full charge. The strategic collaboration is expected to develop a new range of innovative products designed appropriately and exclusively for users in the Asia-Pacific region.

The collaboration also unveils Iturri’s intention to keep developing new solutions for zero-emission vehicles, particularly to comply with new rules and regulations established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation for the reduction of carbon dioxide, carbon footprint and noise at airports.

Iturri managing director Amadeo Douton Rodriguez and aviation manager Luis Ramon Parias Vazquez reaffirmed that the collaboration with BAFS Intech is regarded as the “best business partnership” in the Asean market for aviation and refuelling industries. The agreements will mutually be developed with the support of Iturri’s research and development department, with the piloting of power supplies, electric refuelling machines and smart solutions for hydrogen-powered vehicles, thanks to BAFS Group’s “long-standing experience and expertise in aviation refuelling and its accurate and successful business management strategies”.

Iturri has also set its sights on driving its export volume to 70 per cent of overseas production by 2025, as part of an attempt to achieve a targeted turnover of €500 million (THB18.4 billion), which will double the current value.

“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic makes people in various businesses realise that no one can stand alone,” Nathasit pointed out.

“BAFS has therefore underscored the importance of business collaboration with various companies in Thailand and in several other countries.

“The plan to manufacture a BEV had been previously considered as we have been fully committed to operating our business based on the principle of social and environmental sustainability,” he said.

“One of BAFS’s proudest achievements was having received certification for being a carbon-neutral company since 2019. As a leading aviation refuelling service provider, we always ask ourselves what can we do more for the environment and move toward true sustainability. Consequently, ‘net-zero’ has become our ultimate goal, to be achieved before 2050,” Nathasit said.

BAFS realises how important it is to reinvent itself to get over the challenges in today’s business and thrive through the Covid crisis, the company added in the press release.