Hamse gets a handle on his dreams
Hamse Hassan is a determined Lutonian eager to play his part in the town’s ambitious ongoing investment programme. After studying at Denbigh High, he went to Luton Sixth Form College to take his A levels. Like many of his age, he chose to take a gap year before committing himself to his next steps in life.
Rather than choosing to travel the world, Hamse opted for a job at London Luton Airport, where he allowed the world to come to him. He secured a job as a baggage handler and soon became immersed in a world we all understand exists, but know very little about.
"Crawling around inside an aircraft dragging people’s suitcases could be hard, inconvenient work," said Hamse, and at 6ft 5ins tall it’s not hard to imagine the difficulty of squeezing into spaces better suited to Hobbits, "but being in that environment gave me a real insight into how a major airport works.
"Not only that, but it was the sort of work that couldn’t be delayed. Tight deadlines and quick turnarounds taught me a lot about what is expected in the demanding, but dynamic world of aviation."
Being on site every day, Hamse became very aware of the huge amount of work and development that was going on and he realised that he wanted to be a part of the airport’s future growth.
After intensive research he applied for, and secured an apprenticeship with AECOM, a company that designs, builds, finances, operates and manages projects around the globe.
As part of his contract Hamse had a learning agreement that gave him day release to attend a course at South Bank University, offering the prospect of a degree while learning practical business skills.
"I'm hugely grateful for the opportunity AECOM has given me. I am able to learn really valuable industry insights through work as well as taking full advantage of the opportunity to learn in a classroom setting. The company’s support will really help me advance my career."
AECOM is working as a partner on future development at London Luton Airport, and Hamse hopes that some of the experience he has already gained in pavement design, drainage, highways and traffic movement will one day be put to good use in a setting such as the one that first inspired his career path.
He'll shortly be moving into the world of aviation projects and it could well be that he'll be able to put in to practice some of the lessons learnt while extracting baggage from the hold of a parked aircraft at London Luton Airport.
Our airport company - London Luton Airport Ltd - is committed to ensuring that young people like Hamse benefit from the aviation-related investment coming in to the town.
Aviation is going places in Luton and the town’s young people are invited to be part of that process of reaching for the sky.