In the rapidly consolidating ground-handling market, Dubai-based dnata, has agreed to acquire Belgian ground handler, Aviapartner. This move turns over cargo handling operations at Amsterdam-Schiphol to dnata, which has a 144,350-square-foot warehouse at the airport.
The announcement follows the purchase of Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) by Platinum Equity in May and the recently confirmed pursuit of Swissport by China’s HNA Group earlier this month. Currently, WFS is also in the process of purchasing a 51 percent stake in Germany’s Fraport Cargo Services.
The Aviapartner facility includes the Schiphol animal center and temperature-control center, in addition to freighter ramp handling operations. The Brussels-based company handles approximately 360,000 tonnes of cargo at Schiphol each year.
With this acquisition, dnata will expand from four to 10 European stations, increasing its footprint on the continent by 150 percent. The company said it will now handle 2 million tonnes of cargo at 26 airports throughout the world.
The acquisition is subject to anti-trust approval from the Netherlands. Dnata, however, said it is confident there will be no other hurdles to overcome and that they should close the deal by September