Swissport wins aviation "Oscar" for its ground services
Named Best Ground Handling Company 2010 for the 10th year in a row by the ITM
Zurich, 31 March 2010 - Swissport International, the world's leading provider of ground services to the aviation sector, has been named Best Ground Handling Company 2010 by the Institute of Transport Management. The independent London-based logistics centre bestowed the prestigious award on Swissport following an extensive survey of more than 230 airport and aviation companies. In earning the distinction, Swissport has again prevailed over its industry competitors to retain its leading position in the ground handling sector.
The 2010 award is the tenth time that the ITM has named Swissport as its ground handler of the year. It is a remarkable achievement, and one that underlines the esteem in which the company and its services are held within the aviation industry.
ITM committee director Patrick Sheedy is keen to emphasise the unbiased nature of the survey and its results. We make a special effort to apply objective criteria and solicit the widest possible range of opinions, and conduct our survey in close collaboration with Argus International Aviation Research, he explains.
The more than 230 regional and international airport representatives and operations directors whom we polled in our latest survey voted largely for Swissport, he continues. Of the many criteria we asked our respondents to assess, 'customer services and new technologies' were clearly very important. We offer Swissport our warmest congratulations on this latest achievement, and wish them every continued success. The award will be formally presented in London during the month of June.
Swissport management is delighted at this latest distinction. At the same time, the company views it not just as an acknowledge-ment of its products and services, but also as a commitment to continue to provide these for its airline and airport partners.
I would personally like to thank all our airline customers and our business airport partners for their confidence in our company and our service standard world wide - despite the very challenging 2009, we have seen our service level improved, says Per Utnegaard, President & CEO of Swissport International. The award belongs to each of our 32'000 employees world wide. It is a great acknowledgement of the efforts they make every single day.
Swissport International Ltd., which is owned by Spanish-based Ferrovial, one of the world's leading infrastructure and service corporations, provides ground services for over 70 million passengers and 2.8 million tonnes of cargo a year on behalf of some 650 client companies. With its workforce of around 32 000 personnel, Swissport is active at 176 airports in 38 countries on five continents, and generated consolidated operating revenue of CHF 1.7 billion (EUR 1.1 billion or USD 1.7 billion) in 2009.