Menzies lands Heathrow renewal with Lufthansa

● Contract is one of Edinburgh group’s largest ● Adds to recent deals at Glasgow and Edinburgh

John Menzies has secured a key contract renewal that will see it deliver ground handling services to five airlines at Heathrow Airport.

The Edinburgh-headquartered global aviation services group said the contract with Germany’s Lufthansa Group was its largest at Britain’s busiest airport.

The contract term is for three-and-a-half years and follows on from a successful year in which Menzies completed a total of 28,426 turnarounds for the airline group. The new contract is due to start from 1 November.

The renewal includes the delivery of passenger and ramp services for Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings. Menzies will also provide airside trucking services for some of those airlines.

In total, the contract will see the Scots firm servicing 48 flights a day.

Menzies Aviation said it had enjoyed a “long-standing and fruitful relationship” with Lufthansa Group, with partnerships at London Heathrow dating back to 2008.

Giles Wilson, chief executive of Menzies Aviation, said: “It is fantastic to see yet another contract renewal for our UK ground handling business, especially with one of our long-standing airline partners at a strategically important hub airport.

“Following the recent awards of Edinburgh and Glasgow, our relationship with Lufthansa Group goes from strength to strength. We look forward to solidifying our partnership with Lufthansa Group even further over the next three-and-a-half years.”

Phil Harlock, station manager for Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss, said: “For many years Menzies management and the frontline staff have worked closely with my team and I to deliver the high standard of customer service and operational excellence the Lufthansa Group Airlines strive to achieve.”

Menzies Aviation operates at 219 airports in 37 countries, supported by a team of some 36,000 people.

Half-year results for the six months to the end of June, released in August, showed that John Menzies suffered a pre-tax loss of £4.4 million, from a profit of £8.3m a year earlier. That was despite reported revenues rising to £649.9m from £627.2m.

The losses were blamed in part on cuts in flight schedules because of the global grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX jets in the wake of two fatal crashes.

However, Menzies, which is one of Scotland’s oldest companies, dating back to 1833, has since secured a string of contract wins and renewals at airports including Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The company, which began as a bookstore business, became a pure aviation operation after selling its newsprint distribution division to a private equity firm.