How KION Supports Travel Logistics

Welcome to Frankfurt am Main airport in Germany, one of the largest hubs in the world! In 2023, 58.4 million passengers boarded a plane here in Frankfurt and jetted off on business trips, family visits, or well-earned holidays. Perhaps to Bangkok, New York, or Tokyo, or maybe to the Maldives, the Azores, or Hawaii.

In an ideal world, air travel is a relaxed, worry-free experience—without any turbulence. A key part of this is being safe in the knowledge that your luggage is on board your plane, that it will arrive at your destination on time and unscathed, and that it will appear on the baggage conveyor belt shortly after you’ve landed at your destination airport. But for all this to happen as it should, you need diligent helpers working away behind the scenes, like the tow tractors from STILL.

As soon as the luggage is dropped off at the check-in counter, it begins its own journey through an underground maze of conveyor belts. At the designated handling points, the bags are loaded by hand onto baggage trailers, before being whisked off to the aircraft by powerful STILL electric tow tractors such as the LXT 350.

“The STILL tow tractors are specifically designed to pull heavy loads while working in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. It’s hard to believe just how much power they have!” says Daniel Zobel, who works at the STILL subsidiary in Frankfurt and is responsible for advising the airport operating company Fraport. With a pulling power of up to 35 tons, the LXT 350 can transport several fully loaded baggage trailers at once—an impressive feat. And it’s also an indispensable part of the process, because every single wheel must be in reliable working order when it comes to highly complex airport logistics.

At Europe’s fifth-largest airport, there are more than a thousand take-offs and landings every day. So, of course, the volume of baggage is extremely high, too. According to Fraport, this daily record dates back to 2022, when 88,350 pieces of baggage were processed within 24 hours. “Our tow tractors and tugger trains play an essential role in the airport’s daily operations,” explains STILL expert Daniel Zobel. “These trucks help to meet the passengers’ high demands in terms of punctuality and safety.”

But this doesn’t just apply to passenger transport. Frankfurt Airport also handles daily cargo comprising well over 5000 tons of goods, making it Europe’s largest freight airport. It goes without saying that STILL’s solutions and trucks play a key role here, too.

Now it’s time to leave the airport and head for the sea. Terschelling and Vlieland, which form part of the Dutch Frisian islands in the Wadden Sea, are the ideal habitat for seals and many species of fish and birds, and are classified as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. There are no airports on these islands, but the ferry operator Doeksen has been carrying islanders and tourists across the Wadden Sea for more than a hundred years—around 785,000 passengers every year! And they’ve been relying on our STILL brand to help them for a long time.

There’s something a bit different about this application, too: The STILL R07-25 electric tugger train doesn’t just take the suitcases and bags on board the ferry at the departure point. The same tow tractor also transports them back onto dry land once the ferry arrives at its destination port. That’s right—the tugger train travels on the ferry! “This means that passengers don’t have to wait long for their luggage,” says Yntze Wiebenga from the ferry company. And there’s already another baggage-laden STILL tugger train waiting in the harbor that essentially takes over the shift for the return journey.

Located 500 kilometers southwest of Terschelling and Vlieland, on the rugged coast of southern England, is one of the largest cruise ports in Europe: the Port of Southampton. Here, where the Titanic once set out on its fateful maiden voyage, more than 500 cruise ships dock every year and take their passengers on their journeys across the sea—whether they’re heading north to the Norwegian fjords or Svalbard, south to the Mediterranean, or west across the Atlantic to New York.

Trucks from our KION brand provide important services in Southampton. STILL RX20 electric forklift trucks operating in the cruise port load 2.7 million pieces of baggage and 100,000 tons of ship supplies every year. This takes place mostly at night, while passengers sleep comfortably and, ideally, blissfully unaware of the extensive preparations ahead of the (onward) journey. The precise and efficient port logistics ensure that everything from the butter for the breakfast buffet to the first aid kits is on board on time, and that the ship has everything it needs for the long journey ahead.

STILL is pretty much everywhere. And we’re not just talking about airports, international ports, and ferry terminals. Sometimes, STILL is also in the holiday destination itself. We can come across these orange powerhouses in the most unusual and beautiful places, as evidenced by the countless snapshots sent in or brought back by colleagues from all over the world.

At the Pomerode Zoo in Brazil, for example, located about halfway between São Paulo and Porto Alegre, STILL forklifts have been in use since 2010. Two of them have even had pictures of a giraffe and an elephant printed onto them. Of course, they’re controlled by people, not lions.

You can also find STILL in action on the famous monastery island of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. The agile RX 20 electric forklift truck used there is ideally suited to the island’s narrow streets and steep paths, enabling it to deliver goods to the numerous shops, restaurants, and hotels without any problems. Thanks to the quiet, emission-free technology, the island’s tranquility and charm remain intact, while the logistics work is carried out seamlessly in the background.