Ground Handling

Swissport acquires Belgium Airport Services (BAS) at Liege Airport

With effect from 1 March 2022, Swissport International AG (Swissport) has successfully finalized the complete acquisition of Belgium Airport Services, a young and performant ramp and air cargo services provider with a considerable footprint at Liège Airport.

Between them, the two companies operate cargo centers with a combined capacity of 76,000 sqm in Belgium, about half of which is at Liège Airport.

Swissport also operates a modern 38,000 sqm air cargo facility at Brussels Airport, including a state-of-the-art Swissport Pharma Center.

“I am very excited about the cooperation between Swissport and BAS at Liège Airport, a world-renowned air cargo hub,” says Jan van Engelen, Head of Continental Europe at Swissport.

“This positions Swissport as an even stronger partner for airlines and forwarders in Liège and in Belgium as a whole.

“Swissport will continue to invest in developing its cargo business as a strategic pillar in Belgium and beyond.

“In Amsterdam, for example, we are adding an additional air cargo center, which significantly increases our capacity at Schiphol Airport.”

With BAS, Swissport gains access to an attractive and well-established customer portfolio of airlines and logistics service providers such as El Al, Turkish Airlines, Hongyuan group and many others.

BAS will initially be run as a standalone business to ensure service consistency for its customers.

The operational leadership team of BAS will remain in charge of running the BAS operation, and employment and working conditions will also be maintained.

At a later stage, services will be integrated and consolidated under the Swissport brand.

“Cargo volumes have been soaring and so warehousing space is crucial,” says Dimitri Bettoni, Managing Director of Swissport Belgium.

“Belgium Airport Services is a high performing company, operating a sizable airside cargo facility adjacent to our existing facility in Liège, plus two additional second line warehouses.

“With this acquisition Swissport adds more than 40% to its Belgian warehousing footprint, which now totals 76.000 sqm.”

Share
.