Swissport International Ltd. is an aviation services company providing airport ground and cargohandling services owned by Chinese company HNA Group. It is headquartered in Opfikon, Switzerland. It handles around 282 million passengers and 4.8 million tonnes of cargo annually, on behalf of some 850 client-companies in the aviation sector. With a workforce of around 66,000 personnel, Swissport is active at 307 locations in 50 countries, and generates consolidated operating revenue of EUR 2.8 billion.
History
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. As part of the Swissair financial crisis, Swissport was first purchased by the British private equity firmCandover Investments and in August 2005 by the Spanish construction company Ferrovial. In the meantime, the company has grown through various acquisitions. At the end of 2010, Ferrovial sold Swissport for €654 million to the French private equity firm PAI Partners. In August 2013, Swissport announced the acquisition of competitor Servisair 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. Over the years, Swissport has been the recipient of several industry awards including Ground Handling Award 2013, Air Cargo Handling Agent of the Year 2014 and Global Aviation Ground Services Company 2012. On July 31, 2015 it was announced that China's HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines, was to purchase Swissport for $2.81 billion US. “The acquisition by HNA will enable the company to grow in the interpenetrated Asian markets and in China, in particular, thanks to HNA’s strong roots in the region,” Ricardo de Serdio, a partner at PAI Partners, said in a news release. Swissport, the world's largest ground and cargo handling company, will remain as a stand-alone business within HNA Group, complementing HNA's existing activities including aviation, airport management, logistics and tourism. On March 7, 2018, Swissport has concluded the acquisition of Aerocare and its subsidiaries Skycare, Carbridge and EasyCart from Archer Capital and the Aerocare management. Swissport now holds 100% of Aerocare, the leading Aviation Services and Airport Infrastructure Services provider in Australia/ New Zealand. On June 8, 2020, Swissport's Belgian subsidiary declared bankruptcy, which was confirmed by the Belgian commercial courts the following day. On June 25, 2020, Swissport to cut 8,500 workforce by 50%.
