Swissport boosts expansion in the Middle East with KLM, IndiGo
Swissport is further expanding its business in the Middle East
Dec 21, 2018: Swissport is further expanding its business in the Middle East with new contracts from the Dutch airline KLM and Indian carrier IndiGo. The airport ground services and cargo handling company will provide KLM with ground handling services in Dammam. IndiGo will initially be handled by Swissport at Jeddah, followed by Dammam and Riyadh.
As of February 1, 2019, Swissport will be providing the full range of ground services from passenger services to ramp operations to KLM for its ten weekly flights at King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) in Dammam. Swissport will serve KLM’s A330 widebody aircraft during the stopovers of flights between Amsterdam and Muscat, the capital of Oman. With KLM, the first major European carrier has opted for Swissport’s Saudi affiliate.
As of March 15, 2019, Swissport will handle IndiGo’s daily flights at Jeddah, followed by Dammam in April and Riyadh in September, supporting the carrier’s rapid growth in the region. Currently, with a fleet of 195 A320 family aircraft, which is to grow to 250 aircraft in the near future, IndiGo has become the largest Indian carrier.
“With KLM and IndiGo, Swissport is adding two prominent names to its growing client portfolio in the Middle East. Our businesses in Saudi Arabia and Oman have developed from two greenfield start-ups into established organisations in just a couple of years,” said Nils Knudsen, chief commercial officer of Swissport International AG.
“These latest wins further consolidate our position as a high-quality service provider on the Arabian Peninsula and form a solid base for further growth,” added Mark Skinner, Swissport’s SVP Middle East & Africa.
In addition to the new business with KLM and IndiGo, Swissport recently commenced operations with flyDubai, Jordan Aviation, Fly Baghdad and Sun Express for airport ground services at the Saudi port city of Jeddah and has already started serving them. Fly Jordan, a second Jordanian airline to be handled by Swissport, will launch a Jeddah service early 2019. On January 1, 2019, Swissport will also start serving SalamAir at Muscat International Airport.
Swissport International AG provides best-in-class airport ground services for some 265 million passengers annually and handles approximately 4.7 million tonnes of air cargo at 122 warehouses world-wide.