Swissport International said its new cargo terminal at Ben-Gurion Airport will be operational in the second quarter this year.

With this new building Swissport will be able to off er state-of-the-art warehouse technology and smooth logistic services with a total annual potential cargo capacity in the range of 181,000 tonnes.

The Swiss handler also announced that the Israel Infrastructure Fund (IIF) has invested in Swissport Cargo Services Israel Ltd.’s new aerial cargo terminal. The Fund purchased from Laufer Aviation, its share of 16 per cent in Swissport Cargo Services Israel Ltd.

Swissport Israel is now owned by Swissport International Ltd. (51 per cent), Dankner Investments Ltd. (20 per cent), Israel Infrastructure Fund (16 per cent) and C.A.L Cargo Air Lines Ltd. (13 per cent).

Swissport Israel will operate the US$20 million terminal for a period of 20 years.

Yaron Kestenbaum, CEO of IIF explained: “The fund’s decision to invest in the aerial cargo terminal derives from the growth potential in the field over the coming years. IIF considers this to be a strategic investment for the fund.”

At the same time, Per H. Utnegaard, President & CEO of Swissport International Ltd., is equally satisfied and said: “I expect from IIF to bring professional involvement to the project in terms of financing and local relationships. He believes that for Swissport to enter into new markets the quality of the local partners is a dominant factor in the success of the venture”.

SAS has announced its plans to sell its cargo handling unit – Spirit Air Cargo Handling – but will keep its SAS Ground Services (SGS) unit as long as it meets profi tability targets. Th e decision on SGS is conditional upon SGS meeting a number of quality and profi tability targets, within 18 months, including a cost reduction target of nearly SKR400 million (US$63.7 million).

“Otherwise, an external solution will be on the cards, for example, by bringing in a part-owner with operations in the ground handling industry or through outsourcing,” said SAS chief executive Mats Jansson.

Kuwait Airways has signed an agreement to provide ground handling services for Royal Aviation Kuwait at Kuwait International Airport, including passenger and ramp services, engineering services, in addition to cargo handling services.

Kuwait Airways has also renewed some services at Kuwait International Airport, such as “Marahib” service, which provides a special service to travellers and starting from the arrival of the passenger to the airport, both during departures and arrivals.