Swissport acquires 75% stake in cargo handling unit of Düsseldorf Airport
The acquisition is consistent with Swissport's aim of accelerating expansion and expanding its global footprint in the primary business areas of airport ground services and air cargo handling.
Swissport and Düsseldorf Airport have signed binding agreements to acquire a 74.9 percent stake in Düsseldorf Airport's cargo handling unit, Flughafen Düsseldorf Cargo GmbH, marking a major milestone in the company's cargo presence in Germany. Swissport will continue to look for acquisitions to help it accelerate its global expansion in airport ground services and cargo handling.
Binding agreements were signed on 17 March 2023. The closing of the transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities. With this acquisition, Düsseldorf will become Swissport's second-largest air cargo site in Germany with around 130 employees.
With this transaction, Swissport and Düsseldorf Airport will form a long-term cooperation to consolidate and grow their current air cargo handling businesses at Düsseldorf Airport. Swissport will provide companies with access to its global network of over 850 customers, as well as operational best practices and best-in-class technologies and procedures.
The acquisition is consistent with Swissport's aim of accelerating expansion and expanding its global footprint in the primary business areas of airport ground services and air cargo handling.
"We are very pleased to enter into this long-term partnership with Düsseldorf Airport. It is a great example how we intend to partner with airports globally to strengthen their ground services and cargo handling offerings. We see that airports worldwide are interested in talking to us about different strategic options for their cargo and ground handling units. We believe Swissport is the right partner for them due to our global network and industry-leading operational capabilities,” says Warwick Brady, President & CEO, Swissport.
Swissport has invested heavily in the digitalisation of its air cargo business to handle air cargo efficiently and intelligently. Innovations such as the cargo app, driverless transport systems, speed cargo, artificial intelligence, kiosks, door management systems, slot booking and Bluetooth ULD tracking give Swissport an advantage to process air freight competitively.
After handling a record 5.1 million tons in 2021, 4.8 million metric tons of cargo passed through the company's more than 100 air cargo centers in 2022, including 352,700 tons in Germany.
