page_title: Ground support equipment
section_title: Container loader
hierarchical_section_title: Ground support equipment / Powered equipment / Container loader
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo showing a ULD loader lifting a ULD from apron dollies level to aircraft cargo bay level. Unit Load Device (ULD) is standardized size air cargo container. All are apron Ground support equipment.
context_page_description: Ground Support Equipment is the support equipment found at an airport, usually on the apron, the servicing area by the terminal. This equipment is used to service the aircraft between flights. As the name suggests, ground support equipment is there to support the operations of aircraft whilst on the ground. The role of this equipment generally involves ground power operations, aircraft mobility, and cargo/passenger loading operations.
  Many airlines subcontract ground handling to an airport or a handling agent, or even to another airline. Ground handling addresses the many service requirements of a passenger aircraft between the time it arrives at a terminal gate and the time it departs for its next flight. Speed, efficiency, and accuracy are important in ground handling services in order to minimize the turnaround time.
  Small airlines sometimes subcontract maintenance to a much larger and reputable carrier, as it is a short-term cheaper alternative to setting up an independent maintenance base. Some airlines may enter into a Maintenance and Ground Support Agreement with each other, which is used by airlines to assess costs for maintenance and support to aircraft.
context_section_description: Container loaders, also known as cargo loaders or "K loaders", are used for the loading and unloading of containers and pallets into and out of aircraft. The loader has two platforms which raise and descend independently. The containers or pallets on the loader are moved with the help of built-in rollers or wheels. There are different container and pallet loaders.
  3.5 T
  7 T (standard version, wide-body, universal, high)
  14 T
  30 T
  For military transport planes special container and pallet loaders are used. Some military applications use airborne loaders, which are transportable within the transport plane itself. Container and pallet loaders are mainly produced in France, Germany, Latvia, Spain, Canada, Brazil, Japan, China, and the United States.
caption: A ULD loader lifting a unit load device (ULD) from apron dollies to an aircraft's cargo bay
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