Swissport, the world’s leading provider of ground services to the aviation sector, is to acquire Flightcare Spain and Flightcare Belgium from FCC Versia, significantly expanding Swissport’s network in Spain and allowing it to become a full-service provider at Brussels Airport.
The acquisitions of the Flightcare businesses in Spain and Belgium, which combined handled over 24 million passengers and approximately 287,000 tonnes of cargo in 2011, and employing around 3,000 staff, are great additions to Swissport’s network, due to their good reputation among customers and strong operational performance.
Spain is a very attractive market, where Swissport has been providing ground handling services since 2000, and the addition of Flightcare’s operations in Barcelona, Malaga, Fuerteventura, Valencia, Alicante, Jerez and Almeria will considerably broaden Swissport’s ground handling network. For Swissport Cargo, Spain is a new country to the division’s growing network of stations in Europe, with Flightcare Spain bringing cargo operations in Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Valencia and Almeria to the Swissport business.
Belgium has long been an important market for Swissport, and Swissport already provides cargo handling services at Brussels, Liege, and Antwerp airports. Swissport will now be able to offer clients ground handling services at Brussels Airport for the first time, in addition to its existing cargo business there. For the cargo division, this represents a great opportunity to grow the business further.
Per H. Utnegaard, President & CEO of Swissport International, commented: “We are very pleased to conclude the acquisition of Flightcare’s great companies in Spain and Belgium. Both these markets offer great potential to Swissport. These are essentially bolt-on acquisitions in two existing core markets for Swissport that perfectly complement Swissport’s existing activities in Spain and Belgium and will enable us to grow the business most effectively. We look forward to working with staff, airport operators, and our customers to ensure a seamless transfer of the businesses, and to continue expanding our product portfolio in Spain and Belgium by applying Swissport’s highly recognised standards and processes.”
The transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant airport and competition authorities.
Swissport provides ground services for around 108 million passengers and 3.2 million tonnes of cargo a year (the latter using 98 warehouses with a total floor area of over 350,000 square metres) on behalf of some 650 client-companies in the aviation sector. With a workforce of around 35,000 personnel, Swissport is active at 177 stations in 36 countries on five continents, and generated consolidated operating revenue of CHF 1.7 billion in 2011.
