Menzies Aviation expands in Eastern Europe with fresh acquisition: Kuwaiti Agility’ssubsidiary Menzies Aviation acquired a majority stake in Cargo Handling Services (CHS) at Sofia International Airport (SOF) in Bulgaria, according to a press release. CHS will adopt the Menzies brand and its standards and systems following the acquisition, according to the statement. The acquisition expands Menzies Aviation’s presence in Europe to 50 airports across 17 countries, the statement said, without clarifying the exact size of the stake that Menzies acquired.

What they said: “Strategically, this investment supports our ambitions to accelerate growth by expanding our air cargo business and entering emerging aviation markets. We’re looking forward to working with our new partners and, in the long-term, increasing our market share at Sofia Airport,” Miguel Gomez Sjunnesson, executive vice president Europe at Menzies Aviation, said.

About CHS: Established in 2016, CHS offers various cargo services at SOF, including warehousing, import and export handling, mail handling, and temperature-controlled storage. Sofia International Airport, situated 5km from Bulgaria’s capital, is the country’s largest international airport, serving 21 airlines with connections to major European business hubs.

The latest in a string of acquisitions: The company plans to increase its current 250 locations to 300 by 2024 or early 2025, with a long-term vision of reaching 450 locations. Its expansion strategy focuses on southern and eastern Europe, the UK, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. In May, Menzies Aviation formed a joint venturewith MYAirline to establish a ground services company at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and acquired Aircraft Services and Consulting in Panama to strengthen its presence in Latin America. Menzies also obtained a 50.1% stake in Groundforce, TAP Air Portugal’s aviation services subsidiary, in April.

ALSO FROM MENZIES- The Agility subsidiary will also handle cargo operations at a major Indian airport: Menzies Aviation and Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) formed a joint venture to expand air cargo services at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (BLR Airport) in India, according to a statement. This partnership grants the newly formed entity, dubbed Menzies Aviation (Bengaluru) Private Limited (MABPL), exclusive rights to handle domestic cargo operations and international cargo services at BLR Airport for the next 15 years. This period began from the end of May, the statement added.

The details: MABPL will handle imports and exports at the existing on-site cargo facility that can handle a capacity of 210k tonnes, with plans to increase capacity by an additional 40k tonnes in phases by the end of this decade. MABPL will also become the sole operator at a new domestic cargo facility, once it is completed, initially handling 250k tonnes of cargo with potential to expand to 400k tonnes, in line with BIAL’s goal of accommodating up to 1.6 mn tonnes of cargo annually across its facilities.

What they said: “This long-term agreement with BIAL significantly expands our cargo operations at this strategically important transport hub, which represents the gateway to South and Central India,” Charles Wyley, executive vice president of Middle East, Africa and Asia at Menzies Aviation, said.

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