Business View Caribbean | August 2022

52 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 8 additional service called Private Boarding. “This was an innovative unique idea from Jet Centre Curacao where you can go through the jet centre to do immigration and security and customs,” Doll-Oedjaghir says. “We take you to all the way up to the gate for your commercial plane, so you kind of skip the whole process in a commercial terminal and you do it here with us.” With KLM flights, the CATS Group offers check in and luggage handling, as well. According to Doll-Oedjaghir, “You literally do not see the commercial terminal at all until it’s time for boarding. It makes the client feel special and with COVID times people are not wanting to be around a lot of people, so they can use this service. We have families with, for example, autistic children. If we know in advance that the kids have special needs, we block occupancy so this family can have the lounge to themselves so that the children can be calm and relaxed. We really try to do our part in making all kinds of passengers feel okay and welcome.” The CATS Group is always working to improve their client experience even more. They spent over a year brainstorming as a team to find ways in which they could speed up their fueling process. “One of our things that our team really loves to do is we really love to be proactive in figuring out how to make things faster and more efficient. Back in the day, 10 to 15 years ago, it might take you an hour for a fuel stop turnaround, if not more,” Doll-Oedjaghir recalls. “So over the time, we looked at exactly where the issues lie and how we can make everything more efficient, and we did that with our whole team. We are now at a record fuelling time of 30 minutes and sometimes even 15 minutes, depending on fuel uplift. And that has given us a very, very competitive advantage to the regional jet carriers.” The CATS Group was originally started in 1983 by two pilots, Mr. Torres and Mr. Gibbs, who were tired of the hassle they experienced in the arrival and departure process at various airports