Swissport is set to take full control of Heathrow Cargo Handling (HCH) after increasing its stake from the 50 per cent it held as part of a joint venture with Air France.
With the recent agreement to acquire the remaining 50 per cent stake of HCH from Air France, Swissport will fully own the cargo handling company at one of Europe’s busiest air cargo hubs.
The HCH joint venture has been providing first class cargo handling services to the world’s leading airlines at Heathrow, one of Europe’s busiest air cargo hubs, since 1995.
Swissport executive vice president Europe, Middle East & Africa, Luzius Wirth said: “We are very satisfied that we can strategically round off our global cargo business with this selective acquisition.
“On the basis of over 20 years of successful business, jointly with Air France, Swissport now has the right setup to further develop and enhance its service offering at London‘s Heathrow airport.”
The HCH acquisition enables Swissport to invest further in its air cargo operation and service capabilities at Heathrow Airport where it operates two warehouses with a total surface of some 165,000 square feet.
Last year, the HCH joint venture, with a workforce of some 120 employees, handled over 150,000 tonnes of air cargo, seven per cent more than in 2017.
The completion of the HCH share acquisition by Swissport is subject to UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approval and is expected in the first half of 2019.
Swissport International AG, on behalf of over 850 client-companies handling approximately 4.8 million tonnes of air cargo at 122 warehouses worldwide and is active at more than 300 airports in 50 countries on six continents.
