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Swissport consortium wins key tender process to provide further services in Spain


WEBWIRE

Zurich/Madrid, July 26, 2006 – Swissport International, the world’s leading provider of airport and airline services, has been awarded new licences in an international tender process to provide aviation services at Madrid, Alicante, Lanzarote, Murcia, Almeria and Jerez airports. The new services will enable Swissport to substantially strengthen its position in the Spanish market and offer its customer airlines, which are active all over the world, an even more comprehensive ground handling product. The licences will be valid for seven years, and the associated operations are due to commence from November 1.

AENA, the Spanish airport authority, announced several months ago that it intended to further liberalise the market for aviation services at some of the country’s airports by means of a public invitation to tender. Swissport International teamed up with
two partners – Ferrovial (Swissport’s parent company) and Menzies – to submit its offer as part of the tender process; and, encouragingly, the consortium has successfully secured the licences for these six destinations, prevailing against other reputed competitors.

The result, which has been keenly awaited within the airline community, is of major importance, marking a further deregulation of the aviation services market and enabling Swissport to provide ramp services at the key Madrid hub.

Swissport will also remain active at its existing stations in Barcelona, Malaga and Palma (Mallorca), focusing primarily on passenger handling services. The new Ferrovial-Swissport-Menzies joint-venture company expects to see substantial revenue developments and to create new jobs.

“I am delighted at our success in this tender process,” says
Juan-José Andres, Senior Vice President and Head of Region Europe at Swissport International. “These six airports handle over 65 million passengers a year; and we are confident that the new licences will enable Swissport to secure a bigger share of the markets concerned. In particular at Madrid, where we will become the sole independent ground handling provider.”

Swissport International Ltd., which is owned by Ferrovial, a leading European infrastructure and service corporation based in Spain and has a workforce of around 21 000 personnel, provides ground services for over 70 million passengers and 3.2 million tonnes of cargo a year on behalf of some 650 client companies. With the addition of the new operations, Swissport will be active at 181 airports in 41 countries on five continents. The company generated consolidated operating revenue of CHF 1499 million (EUR 999 million or USD 1315 million) in 2005.
www.swissport.com / www.ferrovial.com



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