Swissport International AG last week announced that it has taken full ownership of its joint venture in Korea after it bought the remaining 41 percent of shares.

The value of the transaction was not stated but the ground and cargo handler, which first entered the market in 2005 together with local partners, is confident in Korea’s aviation market and its growth potential.

Since it first entered the Asian country, Swissport Korea has tripled its revenue, expanded its offering, and steadily expanded its customer base. It now supports many leading airlines, including Emirates, FedEx, Air Canada, AeroMexico, Air France-KLM Cargo, Air New Zealand, Hawaiian Airlines and VietJet.

Also read: Swissport lands key contract extensions in Asia

“With the acquisition complete, we will turn to further strengthening our local management team to continue to deliver exceptional service to our partners,” said Brad Moore, Managing Director for Asia-Pacific at Swissport.

“We want to leverage the significant growth opportunities in Korea and throughout Asia and are delighted that our founding partner J.W. Kim will continue to maintain strong ties with Swissport Korea,” Moore added.

In 2019, Swissport Korea opened the country’s first ‘regulated’ cargo terminal at Incheon International Airport, serving forwarding agents and airlines off airport. The independent ground handling agent also operates check-in facilities at Seoul’s main rail station and express bus terminal, Seoul City Air Terminal.

In more recent news, the company will launch proof-of-concept trials to test Speedcargo’s cargo handling solutions at its Johannesburg and Tel Aviv air cargo warehouses.