Ground handling company Aviapartner to expand significantly in Spain
Aviapartner will significantly expand its services in Spain next year. AENA, the owner of Spain's airports, has awarded the Belgian company nine new licences for the next seven years. For the first time, environmental criteria were included in the Spanish tender.
The tender includes an operating licence for Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Ibiza and Bilbao airports, Aviapartner said on Tuesday, without disclosing financial details. "Aviapartner will operate in 12 of the country's 15 largest airports," the company said. "This expansion is significant as Spain has the largest number of air passengers in the European Union."
"It is a recognition of the quality, sustainability, safety and competitiveness of our services"
Since 2015, the Belgian group has been present at seven mainland airports and three in the Canary Islands. The additional licences will take effect from April 2024. "It is a recognition of the quality, sustainability, safety and competitiveness of our services," the company said on Tuesday.
Electrified fleet
Environmental criteria have been included in the Spanish tender for the first time. One of the criteria is that Aviapartner will electrify its entire fleet for the duration of the operating licence. Aviapartner is also required by Spanish law to retain the staff working at each airport.
"Thanks to this collective agreement, the continuity of the service is better guaranteed, the know-how is kept within the company, and the interests of the employees are taken into account," it says.
Founded in 1949, Aviapartner is a Belgian company that provides ground handling services at 64 airports in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, where it has just won the contract for handling services at Munich. It will soon begin operating in Switzerland.
With nearly 12,000 employees, the company is the European market leader in ground handling, providing services such as passenger and baggage handling and boarding for more than 100 million passengers a year.
© BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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