improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject . please help improve the article with a good introductory style . july 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . june 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message swissport international ltd. industry aviation outsourcing subcontracting founded 1996 headquarters opfikon switzerland number of locations 270 airports area served 48 countries key people eric born president & ceo services ground handling cargo services executive aviation aircraft maintenance aviation security travel services revenue chf 3.0 billion 2014 owner hna group number of employees over 60 000 website http swissport.com swissport international ltd. is a swiss aviation services company providing airport ground and cargo handling services headquartered in opfikon switzerland . it handles around 229 million passengers and 4.1 million tonnes of cargo annually on behalf of some 700 client companies in the aviation sector . with a workforce of around 60 000 personnel swissport is active at more than 270 locations in 48 countries and generates consolidated operating revenue of chf 3.0 billion . citation needed history edit the company was founded in 1996 as swissair ground services international an independent subsidiary of the former swissair . in the following years the company expanded both through organic growth and through various acquisitions . 1 as part of the swissair financial crisis swissport was first purchased by the british private equity firm candover and in august 2005 by the spanish construction company ferrovial . 2 in the meantime the company has grown through various acquisitions . at the end of 2010 ferrovial sold swissport for 654 million to the french private equity firm pai partners . 3 in august 2013 swissport announced the acquisition of competitor servisair . 4 who bought handlex in canada which was part of the group transat in 2012 . in december 2013 the acquisition was approved subject to conditions by the european commission . 5 over the years swissport has been the recipient of several industry awards including ground handling award 2013 air cargo handling agent of the year 2014 for the sixth year in succession and global aviation ground services company 2012 for the twelfth year in succession . 6 on july 31 2015 it was announced that china s hna group parent company of hainan airlines was to purchase swissport for 2.81 billion us . 7 the acquisition by hna will enable the company to grow in the underpenetrated asian markets and in china in particular thanks to hna s strong roots in the region ricardo de serdio a partner at pai partners said in a news release . swissport the world s largest ground and cargo handling company will remain as a stand alone business within hna group complementing hna s existing activities including aviation airport management logistics and tourism . references edit history of swissport international ltd. funding universe . 2005 . retrieved on 22 august 2014 . candover buys swissair arm the telegraph . 02 february 2002 . retrieved on 22 august 2014 . ferrovial to sell swissport to pai partners for 909 million bloomberg . 02 november 2010 . retrieved on 22 august 2014 . swissport to acquire servisair airports international . 02 august 2013 . retrieved on 22 august 2014 . commission approves acquisition of ground handling service provider servisair by swissport subject to conditions europa.eu . 18 december 2013 . retrieved on 22 august 2014 . the swissport profile swissport . retrieved on 22 august 2014 . 1 pai partners to sell swissport international for 2.8 billion . retrieved on 1 august 2015 . external links edit official website switzerland portal companies portal retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title swissport & oldid 738199783 categories aircraft ground handling companiescompanies of switzerlandswissairhidden categories wikipedia articles needing context from july 2013all wikipedia articles needing contextwikipedia introduction cleanup from july 2013all pages needing cleanuparticles with a promotional tone from june 2014all articles with a promotional toneall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from july 2016official website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction 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