Standards & norms

Airline trolley = airline trolley? It is not that simple.

Especially for used trolleys it is often difficult to find the right accessories that fit in the trolley. You have to know the following:

There are different standards that are used in aviation. The most common is the ATLAS standard, according to which our trolleys and units are also manufactured. In addition there are usually the KSSU standard and a few less common standards.

The difference is in the detail and is often difficult to recognize. A drawer for a KSSU trolley does not fit into an ATLAS trolley, but looks almost the same. The difference here is only in the width of the accessory. The KSSU standard is only 3 mm wider and is thus not compatible with ATLAS standard trolleys. However, in most cases, you have no problems because the ATLAS standard 3mm is narrower and therefore fits into a KSSU trolley.

Below is a clear summary:

ATLAS standard:

Is the most widespread standard. The name comes from the European airline alliance, which has agreed on a uniform standard for certain components. Therefore you can only use accessories of this standard in trolleys of these airlines (and meanwhile most other airlines). The founding members of the ATLAS standard were: AirFrance (A), UTA (T), Lufthansa (L), Alitalia (A) and Sabena (S). This standard has meanwhile been predominantly implemented and can be regarded as a future standard.

KSSU standard:

In addition to the ATLAS standard, this is the most widely used standard in the field of aircraft trolleys and their accessories. It differs only minimally from the ATLAS standard, but is not compatible with it. Therefore, there are potentially problems (an ATLAS insert fits into a KSSU trolley, but a KSSU insert does not fit into an ATLAS standard trolley, since here 3mm make the difference). Visually, you look almost identical. The KSSU standard was established by these airlines: KLM (K), SAS (S), Swissair (S) and the French UTA (U).