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Swissport International Ltd.
IndustryAviation
Founded1996; 28 years ago (1996)
HeadquartersOpfikon, Zürich, Switzerland
Number of locations
296 airports
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Warwick Brady (President & CEO)
Services
Revenue€2.99 billion (2018)[1]
OwnerInternational group of investors
Number of employees
Around 57,000
Websitewww.swissport.com

Swissport International Ltd. is a Swiss aviation services company providing airport ground handling, lounge hospitality and cargo handling services. Its headquarters are located in Opfikon, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland.

In 2022, Swissport handled around 186 million passengers, 4.8 million tonnes of cargo, and over 3 million flights, on behalf of over 850 companies in the aviation sector. With around 57,000 personnel, Swissport operates at 296 locations in 44 countries.[2][3] It provides multiple services to their customers which include passenger services (check-in and gate agents, lounge hospitality), security services, baggage services including ramp handling, fueling, executive aviation and air cargo handling. [4]

History

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The company was founded in 1996 as Swissair Ground Services International, independent of the former Swissair. In the following years, the company expanded both through organic growth and through various acquisitions.[5] As part of the Swissair financial crisis, Swissport was first purchased by the British private equity firm Candover Investments and later sold in August 2005 to the Spanish construction company Ferrovial.[6] In the meantime, the company had grown through various acquisitions. At the end of 2010, Ferrovial sold Swissport for €654 million to the French private equity firm PAI Partners.[7]

In August 2013, Swissport announced the acquisition of competitor Servisair [8] which bought Handlex in Canada, a part of the group Transat in 2012. In December 2013, the acquisition was approved, subject to conditions by the European Commission.[9]

Over the years, Swissport has been the recipient of several industry awards including Ground Handling Award 2013,[10] Air Cargo Handling Agent of the Year 2014[11] (for the sixth year in succession) and Global Aviation Ground Services Company 2012 (for the twelfth year in succession).[12]

On 31 July 2015, China's HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines, announced that it would purchase Swissport for $2.81 billion US.[13]

On 7 March 2018, Swissport concluded the acquisition of Aerocare and its subsidiaries Skycare, Carbridge and EasyCart from Archer Capital and the Aerocare management.[14] Swissport now holds 100% of Aerocare, an Aviation Services and Airport Infrastructure Services provider in Australia and New Zealand.

On 8 June 2020, Swissport's Belgian subsidiary declared bankruptcy, which was confirmed by the Belgian commercial courts the following day.[15]

On 25 June 2020, Swissport UK & Ireland announced a 50% reduction in its workforce of 8,500.[16]

In December 2020, Swissport had completed its comprehensive financial restructuring that began in August 2020. Ownership of the company has been transferred from the HNA Group to a group of financial investors led by the former senior secured lenders of Swissport.[17] Their total existing debt was reduced by about €1.9 billion.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Swissport 2018 Company Profile" (Press release). Swissport International AG. Retrieved 2023-09-15.
  2. ^ "Swissport 2023 General Fact Sheet" (Press release). Swissport International AG. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-15.
  3. ^ AG, Swissport International. "Swissport International AG - Network". www.swissport.com. Retrieved 2023-09-15.
  4. ^ AG, Swissport International. "Our Services". www.swissport.com. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  5. ^ Ingram, Frederick C. (2005). "Swissport International Ltd.". In Grant, Tina (ed.). International Directory of Company Histories. Vol. 70. Detroit: St. James Press. pp. 310–312. ISBN 1-55862-545-3. OCLC 367891286.
  6. ^ Goodley, Simon (9 February 2002). "Candover buys Swissair arm". Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  7. ^ Smyth, Sharon (2 November 2010). "Ferrovial to Sell Swissport to PAI Partners for $909 Million". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  8. ^ Allett, Tom (2 August 2013). "Swissport to Acquire Servisair". Key Publishing. Archived from the original on 2014-10-20. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  9. ^ "Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of ground handling service provider Servisair by Swissport, subject to conditions" (Press release). Brussels: European Union. European Commission. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  10. ^ "Swissport International Ltd. - News & Media Center". Swissport. Archived from the original on 2021-06-26. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  11. ^ "Swissport Wins Its Sixth Straight 'Cargo Agent Of The Year' Award". Aviation Pros. 24 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2023-11-03. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  12. ^ "Corporate Profile". Swissport. Archived from the original on 2014-08-22. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  13. ^ Bray, Chad (31 July 2015). "PAI Partners to Sell Swissport International for $2.8 Billion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-10-04. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  14. ^ "Swissport secures €325m financing commitment for Aerocare acquisition". Air Cargo News. 31 January 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  15. ^ "Swissport Belgique déclarée en faillite par le tribunal de commerce de Bruxelles". RTBF (in French). 9 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2023-01-27. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  16. ^ "Swissport to cut 8,500 workforce by 50%". Global Cargo News. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-27.[dead link‍]
  17. ^ "Swissport completes financial restructuring / ownership transfer to group of new shareholders". 22 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  18. ^ "Swissport Completes Financial Restructuring". Aviation Pros. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
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