Swissport prepares to enter Indian market by concluding joint-venture agreement with Punj Lloyd Limited

Zurich/Delhi, September 12, 2006 – Swissport International, the world leader in the ground handling industry, has concluded a joint-venture agreement with Punj Lloyd Limited (PLL), one of India’s largest engineering and construction companies. Swissport will own 51% and PLL 49% of the new joint venture. With one of the fastest-growing markets in the entire aviation sector, India is a prime priority for Swissport, which sees it as having strong business potential.

The new joint venture will provide a vehicle for both partners to develop projects in the Indian ground handling market, taking advantage of Swissport’s brand and know-how and PLL’s local expertise. The Indian aviation market is currently being liberalised and offers attractive development opportunities.

“This joint venture is a significant business opportunity,” says Joseph In Albon, President & CEO of Swissport International. “It will open up new avenues for developing Swissport in India, and enable us to serve this market with the same high quality standards that we provide all around the world.”

Atul Punj, Chairman of PLL, is equally pleased. “This joint venture will enable Punj Lloyd to enter into a new business field in the aviation sector in India which has robust growth opportunities,” he says. “We are enthusiastically looking forward to developing our partnership with Swissport into a very successful business.”

Swissport has substantially expanded its involvement in Asia’s prime growth markets over the last few months. These activities have included the opening of a Singapore operation (in March 2005), an acquisition in Korea (in May 2005) and the acquisition of a Japanese-based company (in August 2006). No date has yet been set for the start of Swissport’s Indian operations.



About Swissport
Swissport International Ltd., which is owned by Ferrovial, a leading European infrastructure and service corporation based in Spain, 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 its workforce of around 21000 personnel, Swissport is active at 172 airports in 41 countries on five continents, and generated consolidated operating revenue of CHF 1499 million (EUR 999 million or USD 1315 million) in 2005.
www.swissport.com / www.ferrovial.com

About Punj Lloyd
Punj Lloyd (BSE SCRIP ID: 532693, NSE SCRIP ID: PUNJLLOYD) is one of the largest engineering and construction companies in India. The company provides integrated design, engineering, procurement, construction and management services for projects in the energy and infrastructure sectors, and has operations spread across the Middle East, the Caspian, the Asia-Pacific region, Africa and South Asia. Punj Lloyd has also acquired a majority shareholding in Singapore-based Semb Corp Engineers & Constructors and has concluded a joint venture with a Saudi prince to form Dayim-Punj Lloyd Engineering Limited.
www.punjlloyd.com

Contact Information

Stephan Beerli

Corporate Communications

Swissport International Ltd.

Contact via E-mail