The new air cargo facility, which is operated by Swissport, the global leader in airport ground handling and air cargo services, has direct airside access, allowing shipments to be transported to and from the aircraft much faster than before. Swissport is one of only two air cargo handlers at Vienna International Airport which can provide a direct access to the airport apron.
“We are pleased to be able to offer our clients even shorter transit times for their shipments going through Vienna”, says Willy Ruf, Senior Vice President Central Europe of Swissport. “The opening of the new warehouse is another step to meet our strategic goal of offering direct airside access at each of the 15 airports at which we offer cargo services in Germany, Austria and Switzerland”.
The new facility was built by the Flughafen Wien AG, the Vienna airport operator. Swissport entered into a long-term lease agreement for the facility. As part of this arrangement, Swissport has relocated its cargo documentation services to new offices in the building, offering clients a one-stop service.
The opening of its second warehouse in Vienna is in line with Swissport’s global cargo strategy, which focuses on higher-yielding, profitable growth. Just recently, the company has been appointed by Finnair Cargo as the new operator of its COOL Nordic Cargo Hub facility at Helsinki Airport.
At London’s Heathrow airport, Swissport is now fully responsible for managing the Heathrow Cargo Handling Ltd., after it has increased its shares of the former joint venture with Air France to 100 per cent. Increasingly, the company is also focusing on special cargo like pharmaceuticals and has been adding more IATA CEIV-certified air freight facilities to its worldwide cargo handling network.
In 2018, Swissport International AG provided airport ground services for some 282 million airline passengers and handled roughly 4.8 million tons of air freight in 115 cargo warehouses worldwide. Several of its warehouses have been certified for pharmaceutical logistics by IATA’s CEIV.
The world’s leading provider of airport ground services and air cargo handling, with 66,000 employees, achieved consolidated operating revenue of EUR 2.99 billion euros in 2018. At the end of June 2019, Swissport was active at 310 airports in 49 countries on six continents.
