Summary of the Ground Handling Tender Activity
The final stage of the competition for ground handling services at airports stretches across a list of multinational players from Belgium, France, Switzerland, Greece, and Denmark, with notable moves by firms from Peru and Singapore. Inside airports in the Canary Islands, the bidding competition centers on ramp services and the broader ground handling package. The board of directors of Aena, the semi-public group responsible for managing Spain’s national airport network, will decide next Tuesday on a tender that covers six lots within the autonomous community airports and the remaining network. In the Canary Islands, local participation in bids is strong. Binter, competing against its subsidiary Atlántica Handling for ramp services, is actively pursuing this mix of opportunities. In alliance with Menzies Aviation, Binter faces five lots associated with the region’s major airports. The market value of this regional deal sits at a benchmark, with an annual revenue around 300 million euros generated by island operations.
The macro contract in question is tendered by Aena and distributed across 21 lots, with coverage of 43 principal Spanish airports including Madrid Barajas and Barcelona El Prat. The total value stands near 5 billion euros over seven years, making it the largest open tender in Spain at present. The size of the prize, coupled with a tourism boom following Covid disruptions in Europe, has attracted attention from seven major foreign groups seeking to manage the archipelago airports. The autonomous community’s airports are listed with strategic focus on Gran Canaria, Tenerife South, Lanzarote Cesar Manrique, Tenerife North, and Fuerteventura, with a joint package for ramp services at three airports on the green islands of La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro highlighted as a priority area.
The Canary Islands market has several lines of interest. Binter is bidding on the green islands package through Atlántica Handling, while these three small-capacity airports are among the most modest in throughput yet sit within a wider, highly profitable regional network facing intense competition from global players. This scenario has attracted Belgian Aviapartner, backed by the HIG venture capital fund, which submitted bids to provide ground handling at eight airports in the region, including La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro. Aviapartner competes with the Binter Atlántica Handling coalition for the green islands services and with the Binter Menzies alliance for five of the region’s major airports. The WFS group, Worldwide Flight Services, headquartered in France and owned by the Singaporean SATS group, is also a contender for ramp services across all island airports, alongside Swissport Handling whose capital includes investment funds such as Apollo and TowerBrook. Gala Alyzia has opted not to bid on green islands or Tenerife North; another joint venture, formed by Greece’s Goldair and Switzerland’s AAS, limits its offering to Gran Canaria and Tenerife South. The French Groupe Europe Handling also targets Gran Canaria, Tenerife South, and Lanzarote. The Danish Aviator Airport Alliance seeks contracts for ramp management at two major island airports and at Fuerteventura. Peru’s Andean Airport Services Saasa has expressed interest in Lanzarote Cesar Manrique.
On the national side, Globalia Handling is bidding for all Canary Islands lots except El Hierro, La Gomera, and La Palma, while Iberia Lae Single Operator is not participating in these island routes. Binter stands alone as the only Spanish and Canarian company ready to provide cobertura across the entire regional airport network, either through Atlántica Handling or in collaboration with Menzies. The Binter Menzies consortium projects a capital outlay of roughly 35 million euros and a workforce of around 1,500 people if it secures the shares of five major airports.
Who is in the tender?
Canary Islands
The Canary group competes with its subsidiary Atlántica Handling for airports on the green islands. In addition, Binter, in alliance with Menzies, is bidding for lots at five other airports.
Belgium
Tendering for eight airports.
Singapore
Tendering for eight airports.
Switzerland
Declines to bid on the green islands.
France
No proposals for either the green islands or Tenerife North.
Greece-Switzerland
Targeted for Gran Canaria and Tenerife South.
France
Targets Gran Canaria, Tenerife South, and Lanzarote.
Denmark
Targets Gran Canaria, Tenerife South, and Fuerteventura.
Peru
Targeting Lanzarote Cesar Manrique.