Air101: Aviapartner Became Leader in Airport Ground Services in Spain

10 October, 2023

Aviapartner Became Leader in Airport Ground Services in Spain

Aviapartner is the big winner of the tender round for Airport Ground Services in Spain.

Aviapartner will offer their services in 12 of the 15 largest Spanish airports, including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Málaga and Alicante. These new licenses reinforce the European leadership of Aviapartner, who already serves airlines and passengers in close to 65 airports in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and soon Switzerland.

The Spanish airports owner AENA, listed in Madrid, announced the results of the license renewal process for all Spanish airports for the next 7 years. Already present in 7 Spanish airports since 2015, including Málaga, Seville, Menorca and three Canary Islands, the privately owned Belgian group is now adding 9 airports including Madrid and Barcelona (respectively 4th and 5th largest EU airports) as well as Valencia, Alicante, Ibiza and Bilbao.

This is an important signal for Aviapartner, as Spain is the European Union's number one country in terms of annual passengers.

A sustainable success

The successful tender round in Spain is a recognition of the strong focus of Aviapartner on quality, sustainability, safety and competitiveness. It confirms the status of Aviapartner as an international reference, a reliable and internationally experienced airlines and airports partner. The election also has a “green glow”, since sustainability criteria have been included for the first time in this Spanish tender. Aviapartner has committed, among other things, to fully electrify their fleet of ramp equipment during the license period.

The new Spanish permits will enter into force in April 2024. AENA ultimately received 168 bids from fifteen different Spanish and foreign airport service providers. These 168 proposals have been assessed on rigorous criteria regarding quality, innovation, sustainability and competitiveness.

Full staff will be retained

The workforce transfer is guaranteed in Spain, which is not always the case in other countries. The Collective Labor Agreement (CLA) for Airport Ground Services in Spain obliges the new license holders to take over the workforce of the previous operators in each airport. Thanks to this Collective Agreement, not only the continuity of services is better guaranteed, it also valorises the knowhow of the staff and their interests are taken into account.

Over 25,000 people are employed in Airport Ground Services in Spain.

More good news in Munich

Aviapartner also got confirmed it will be providing Airport Ground Services at the airport of Munich for the next seven years, replacing Swissport.

Munich is the second largest airport in Germany after Frankfurt and the sixth largest of the EU. It expects about 50 million passengers in 2024. The license Aviapartner obtained takes effect from 1 March 2024.

Jason Shaw.

Jason Shaw's love of the aviation industry started at a young age when he used to watch the whirlybirds of Bristow Helicopters coming and going from the garden of his Surrey childhood home. Since those days he's worked in a number of key areas within the aviation industry from airlines, travel agents, holiday companies and product selection to reporting on it for local radio and making video travel brochures.

Jason is also an experienced broadcaster, having presented on radio, television, corporate videos and video travel brochures.

He's an avid reader and has also written a number of books, articles, features and reports.

Jason loves to travel, eat cheesecake and his favourite destinations include Port Douglas, Singapore and Copenhagen.

Joshua Jordan.

Josh loves to travel and has a passionate interest in the airline industry. He's worked in both travel and the media for a number of years. His voice can often be heard on Internet-based radio stations as well and the odd commercial! The destination he calls his favourite is - New York.

Adam Shaw

Adam is the youngest member of the team, no relation to Jason and like the rest of the team, he has a keen interest in airlines, aircraft and aviation. His favourite destination is Prague and has just started taking flying lessons.