Swissport to open its first Australian air cargo terminal in Q3 2020

January 17, 2020: Swissport has signed an initial seven-year lease on a new building with warehouse space at Melbourne Airport. The fit-out is well underway and the facility is due to open in the third quarter of 2020. Further locations across Australia will be announced soon this year.

The brand new facility on Mace Way has direct airside access and will offer state-of-the-art cargo facilities for handling and storage of general cargo, animals, pharmaceuticals, and perishables.

“With this launch, we bring a fresh approach and a more competitive offer to a market that has not seen a new entrant for more than 20 years. Swissport has industry-leading processes, training and systems built up across more than 300 sites worldwide over our 25-year history and we will provide a nimble service model designed to better meet customer requirements and deliver on both price and service. We are excited to serve new customers in Australia and look forward to adding Australia to our global cargo network for our existing global customers.” said Glenn Rutherford, Swissport executive vice president Asia-Pacific.

Swissport welcomed Chris Doyle as new general manager cargo – Pacific. Chris has spent many years leading cargo operations, most recently as an international cargo manager for a major airline.

Melbourne Airport’s senior property development manager Gavin Potts commented, “We are pleased to welcome Swissport to Melbourne Airport’s Business Park. The new facility joins other industrial leaders in benefiting from 24/7 air freight opportunities, round the clock security and unrivalled proximity to arterial road networks.”

In 2018, Swissport International AG provided best-in-class airport ground services for some 282 million airline passengers and handled roughly 4.8 million tonnes of air freight in 115 cargo warehouses worldwide. Several of its warehouses have been certified for pharmaceutical logistics by the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV). At the end of September 2019, Swissport was active at 307 airports in 48 countries on six continents.