No relaunch for bankrupt Swissport Belgium; 1,500 employees dismissed, 3 flights cancelled

No relaunch for Brussels Airport ground handler Swissport, this is the sad news three curators assigned to rescue the bankrupt company told the unions representing the Swissport employees.

As a consequence, 1,309 employees of Swissport Belgium NV and the 160 employees of Swissport Belgium Cleaning NV will be dismissed.

The future for ground handling companies at Brussels Airport remains highly uncertain as the airport is legally required to have two ground handlers. After the demise of Swissport, Aviapartner is now the sole ground handler for passenger transport at the airport.

In the past years, both companies suffered losses in the handling of passenger flights at Brussels Airport, according to annual figures published on the website of the National Bank of Belgium.

Swissport Cargo Services Belgium, a separate entity, has not been affected by the bankruptcy and will continue its activities at the airports of Brussels and Liege. For the cargo business, in addition to Aviapartner and Swissport, there is a third handler at Brussels Airport, dnata.

Three flights were cancelled at Brussels airport on Wednesday due to the bankruptcy of Swissport. These are flights to and from Helsinki (Finnair), Frankfurt (Lufthansa) and Rome (Alitalia).