Aviapartner
IndustryAviation
Founded1949 (as Belgavia)
Headquarters,
Key people
Richard Prince,[1] CEO
ServicesAircraft ground handling
Aircraft maintenance
Websitewww.aviapartner.aero

Aviapartner, whose origins date back to 1949 under the name of Herfurth Air Services to become 'Belgavia' in the late 1960s, is a Belgian company that provides ground handling services at 37 airports in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands. Among the airports served are Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, Düsseldorf, Rome, Nice, Toulouse and Málaga .

History

In 1949, Belgavia was founded in Antwerp, Belgium. In the coming years, they expanded their services to the airports of Ostend (1957), Liège (1965) and Brussels (1970). It took until the 90's for the company to go international. Bases in France and later in Germany were opened. In 1999, the name was changed to Aviapartner. The group expanded by taking over Servisair in Rotterdam (2002), Aero Groundservices in Amsterdam (2007) and SAT in Bordeaux and La Rochelle (2010).

In 2011, Aviapartner lost its handling licence in Brussels for seven years to Swissport. This could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs and led to a major 24-hour strike in June 2011 that affected many flights and passengers.[2] Aviapartner went to court as they believed juridical mistakes had been made. The judge ruled that a new investigation was to be conducted and that, in the meantime, Aviapartner could continue operations at the airport. Before a new investigation was concluded, Swissport took over Flightcare, the other ground handling company at the airport. Note that only two handling licences are issued at the airport.

In 2012, Aviapartner announced a merge with the French Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), making them the biggest ground handler in Europe.[3] This merge was not successful.[4]

Range of ground handling services

  • Passenger handling:

Check-in, ticketing, boarding assistance, lost and found baggage services, assistance to disabled passengers, passenger ground transportation.

  • Ramp handling:

Loading and unloading of baggage and cargo to/from aircraft on the ramp, ground power provision for aircraft, cleaning, water and sanitary services, freight and baggage transfer to terminal, crew transfer from aircraft to terminal/hotel, pushback and towing, with headset, aircraft de-icing.

  • Traffic operations:

Preparation of flight documentation, ground to air communication, calculation of weight and balance, set-up of loadsheet, crew briefing, flight supervision.

  • Cargo handling:

Warehousing, palletizing, import and export procedures, customs clearance, trucking services.

  • Courier handling:

Transfer of courier and express shipments to/from other warehouses and aircraft, handling of express flights operated from the Brussels Airport Courier center.

Airports served by Aviapartner

Country Airport IATA ICAO Passenger Handling Ramp Handling Executive Handling Cargo Handling
 Belgium Brussels (HQ) BRU EBBR
 Belgium Antwerp ANR EBAW
 Belgium Liège LGG EBLG
 Belgium Ostend-Bruges OST EBOS
 France Bordeaux BOD LFBD
 France La Rochelle LRH LFBH
 France Lille LIL LFQQ
 France Lyon-Saint Exupéry LYS LFLL
 France Marseille MRS LFML
 France Montpellier MPL LFMT
 France Nantes NTE LFRS
 France Nice NCE LFMN
 France Saint-Nazaire SNR LFRZ
 France Strasbourg SXB LFST
 France Toulouse TLS LFBO
 Germany Düsseldorf DUS EDDL
 Germany Hannover HAJ EDDV
 Italy Bologna BLQ LIPE
 Italy Catania CTA LICC
 Italy Lamezia SUF LICA
 Italy Milan Linate LIN LIML
 Italy Milan Malpensa MXP LIMC
 Italy Palermo PMO LICJ
 Italy Reggio di Calabria REG LICR
 Italy Roma Ciampino CIA LIRA
 Italy Roma Fiumicino FCO LIRF
 Italy Turin TRN LIMF
 Italy Venice Marco Polo VCE LIPZ
 Netherlands Amsterdam Schiphol AMS EHAM
 Netherlands Rotterdam RTM EHRD
 Spain Fuerteventura FUE GCFV
 Spain Girona-Costa Brava GRO LEGE
 Spain Lanzarote ACE GCRR
 Spain Málaga AGP LEMG
 Spain Menorca MAH LEMH
 Spain Sevilla SVQ LEZL
 Spain Tenerife South TFS GCTS

Corporate Airlines at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Corporate Airlines at Brussels Airport

Corporate Airlines at Nice Airport

Awards

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol presented Aviapartner with 'The Best Handler Award' in 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2009 for its excellent performance in the areas of service, safety and co-operation.

Aviapartner received the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) registration for:

  • Amsterdam (December 2008)
  • Frankfurt (July 2009)
  • Düsseldorf (September 2009)
  • Munich (October 2009)
  • Brussels (October 2009)
  • Milan-Malpensa (November 2009)
  • Nice (November 2009)
  • Lyon (December 2009)
  • Turin (May 2010)
  • Venice (June 2010)
  • Rotterdam (May 2011)

References

  1. "Aviapartner krijgt nieuwe topman". De Tijd (in Dutch). 14 June 2016.
  2. "Aviapartner houdt 24-urenstaking op Zaventem wegens verlies licenties". Het Belang van Limburg (in Dutch). 8 June 2011.
  3. "Aviapartner fuseert met de Franse tegenhanger WFS". DeRedactie.be (in Dutch). 19 August 2012.
  4. "Fusie Aviapartner en WFS mislukt". De Morgen (in Dutch). 10 August 2013.

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