Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) cargo division, Swiss WorldCargo, and Swissport and have extended their handling agreement until 2020.
The companies say the renewed agreement will focus on improving handling and speeding up the acceptance and clearance of cargo shipments.
Swissport had already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SWISS to extend ground handling services at Zurich Airport until 2020 in March before the contract renewal with Swiss WorldCargo.
Swiss International Air Lines’ chief cargo officer, Oliver Evans, says: “We pride ourselves on the performance standards of the airline itself, but as we have outsourced all ground handling activities, one of our most important decision is the selection of our partners.”
Swissport’s executive vice president for global cargo services, Nils Pries Knudsen (see picture), says: “We have been working very closely with Swiss WorldCargo for many years, and are very proud of the trust we have earned. We are very much looking forward to continuing our cooperation, and potentially extend it.”
In February, Swissport announced its subsidiary, Swissport Ghana, was to start operations in Accra in the fourth quarter of this year.
Its facility at Kotoka International Airport has 10,000 square metres of warehousing space to cater for perishables, valuable and dangerous goods.
In March, Swissport’s Brussels Airport facility was awarded the International Air Transport Association’s center of excellence for independent validators. This is to help it meet the requirements of the European Union’s cargo security regime.
In January, Swiss WorldCargo signed an MoU with Cargologic and SATS to establish what it called a quality alliance, to promote knowledge, innovation and quality leadership. The MoU intended to improve handling, particularly of temperature controlled products such as pharmaceuticals.
