Qantas has chosen Swissport as its preferred ground handling partner at Melbourne International Airport in Australia. After successfully providing ground handling services for Qantas domestic flights over many years, Swissport commenced handling for the carrier’s international flights this week, including the entire narrow-body and wide-body fleet.

Swissport International has expanded the scope of services for the Australian flag carrier Qantas at Melbourne’s busy Tullamarine Airport (MEL). Having already served the airline's domestic fleet since 2021, the latest contract expansion now also covers the airline's narrow-body and wide-body fleet for its international operations. Going forward, Swissport, the global leader in airport ground services and air cargo handling, will turn around more than 750 Qantas flights per week. The services include pushback, loading and unloading of cargo, and baggage services.

“We’re proud to be a trusted partner in the home market of one of the world’s leading international carriers, being able to now serve all of Qantas’ flights arriving to and departing from Melbourne,” says Brad Moore, regional CEO of Asia-Pacific at Swissport International. “We are confident that we will live up to the high service standards of Qantas. And with our skilled and dedicated team of aviation professionals and Swissport’s modern fleet of environmentally friendly equipment we are well prepared for a long-term collaboration.”

To support its sustainable growth strategy, Swissport in 2024 is investing more than five million Australian Dollars in environmentally friendly electric ground handling equipment for its Australian and New Zealand operations. By the end of next year, almost half of Swissport's fleet in the region will be electric, in line with the company's global commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. At Swissport's Melbourne hub, the fleet of electrically powered vehicles already includes 18 baggage tugs, two passenger stairs and four conveyor belt loaders, most of them exclusively purchased to support the growth of the Qantas operations.

For Swissport, Melbourne is one of the most important airports in Australia. Together with Sydney it is the only location on the continent where Swissport offers the complete portfolio of aviation ground services, including ramp handling, passenger services, air cargo handling in its own cargo center and lounge hospitality services for passengers via its subsidiary ASPIRE Airport Lounges. In Australia and New Zealand, Swissport provides airport ground services at 24 airports for 23 national and international airlines.