After challenging negotiations, Swissport has been awarded a long-term contract by the Lufthansa Group, which is securing significant business volumes at Switzerland’s airports for seven years. The win comes after a recent agreement for Qantas’ ground services at the three major Australian airports in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. As airlines are preparing for a post-Covid world, they seek reliable partners, and this is what Swissport delivers. The company is in the final stage of completing a financial restructuring and will emerge from the crisis with a strengthened balance sheet, which will see its ownership transferred to a group of new shareholders.

The new seven-year contract with the Lufthansa Group comprises passenger services and airport ramp handling in Zurich, Geneva and Basel, Switzerland. It runs from 1 January 2021 until 31 December 2027 and covers the complete hub handling for Swiss International Air Lines at Zurich Airport, and further services for Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Edelweiss Air in Zurich, Geneva and Basel.

The Lufthansa Group with Swiss national carrier Swiss International Air Lines provides the majority of flights in and out of Switzerland. In 2019, Swiss International Air Lines' volume accounted for approximately two-thirds of all flights serviced by Swissport at Zurich Airport. "Major airlines trust in Swissport as they plan for a post-Covid world and prepare to ramp-up operations in 2021," says Willy Ruf, Swissport’s Senior Vice President, Central & Eastern Europe. "We are thrilled to have won Lufthansa Group’s renewed trust and motivated to get back to work and support them through an operationally smooth return to higher traffic volumes."

Swissport has provided SWISS with passenger services and ramp handling in Switzerland since the carrier’s first flight in 2002. Christoph Casparis, Head of Ground Operations SWISS: "We are pleased to be able to continue our long-standing partnership with Swissport in the coming years. Competent and smooth passenger care and ground handling are of central importance to our customers and to us, and Swissport is an extremely reliable partner of SWISS and other Lufthansa Group airlines in this area. "