Swissport and PrivatAir have joined both names and forces at Geneva Airport by establishing a new joint company - PrivatPort. Not only will both partners benefit from executive jet handling at the Swiss airport, there are also plans to offer similar ground handling services at other airports around the world.

Speaking from PrivatAir’s Geneva headquarters, ceo Greg Thomas told EBAN: “It’s taken a long time to come to agreement firstly because we looked at other possible partners before deciding on Swissport and secondly, because there were some tricky regulatory issues that had to be sorted out with the airport. All in all, it took about 12 months to pull it all together.”

These initial activities in Geneva – which recently saw the opening of a new private passenger terminal with its own vip lounge – mark the first step in a projected global collaboration between the two partners.

\r Asked where else handling tie-ins are likely to occur between the two companies, Thomas said: “I can’t disclose that information at the moment but it would clearly make sense to expand in places where Swissport or ourselves have a presence. There are some immediate targets which you will probably hear some news about later in the summer.”

\rThe two companies agree that the business aviation sector is continuing to develop well, due in no small part to the additional security measures now in force at airports around the world. Thomas said: “If you look at Geneva in particular, we now have a sterile area, we have a clear division between landside and airside, and we have personal metal detectors and baggage x-ray machines, which 18 months ago just didn’t exist here.”

PrivatPort will offer all ground handling products and services at Geneva including flight planning and rostering, airport handling, limousine services, catering, safety and security measures.

In other company news, PrivatAir has opened a Düsseldorf affiliate – PrivatAir GmbH – which coincides with the issue of a German AOC by the German Civil Aviation Authority, authorising it to operate German-registered aircraft for commercial purposes.

An EU AOC is required to operate the two German-registered A319s PrivatAir will be using to transport executives and employees of Airbus between the group’s Toulouse, Hamburg and Filton/Broughton production sites, and to continue operating its regular transatlantic services on behalf of Lufthansa.