Swissport wins ground handling contract for 15 airports in Morocco

September 18, 2019: Swissport International has won a licence for ground services from October 1, 2019, for 15 airports in Morocco. The new licence is valid for a term of seven years.

The airports include Agadir, Al Hoceima, Casablanca, Dakhla, Errachidia, Essaouira, Fes, Laayoune, Marrakesh, Nador, Ouarzazate, Oujda, Rabat, Tangier and Tetouan. 

"We are delighted with the trust that ONDA has placed in us," said Christophe de Figueiredo, CEO Swissport Morocco. "Since 2012, our service agents and ramp personnel have all been working with great dedication to exceeding the high expectations of our airline clients in Morocco. This licence renewal was earned by all of our staff. At our Moroccan locations, we will continue to invest in highly trained staff and deploy state-of-the-art equipment, many of which will be electrically powered to further improve our carbon footprint."

By 2021, for example, Swissport will convert most of its fleet of ground support equipment at Marrakesh airport to electric propulsion. Under the new concessions, Swissport will in total invest over 200 million Moroccan Dirham ($20.7 million) in the renewal of its equipment of baggage carts; aircraft tow tractors and cargo loaders.

"Morocco is of great importance for us," said Luzius Wirth, EVP Europe, Middle East & Africa of Swissport International. "Our commitment is reflected in our sizeable deployment of state-of-the-art electric GSE (ground support equipment) in Morocco." Swissport recently announced its ambition to increase the share of electric vehicles in its global fleet to at least 50 percent by 2025.

Swissport is the second largest airport ground services company in Morocco after local Royal Air Maroc and serves a total of 22 airline customers such as Air Arabia, Air Canada, British Airways, Easyjet, Lufthansa, Ryanair and TAP Air Portugal.

In addition to its general airport ground services business, Swissport maintains so-called fixed base operations (FBO) for business and executive aviation customers at four airports in Morocco. They include Casablanca, Marrakesh, Rabat and Tangier.

And Swissport's engagement in Morocco goes further - In 2016, Swissport opened a brand new centralized load control (CLC) office in Casablanca. There, highly qualified specialists create so-called load sheets for various airlines.

At the end of June 2019, Swissport was active at 310 airports in 49 countries on six continents.