In April this year, Menzies Aviation confirmed that it had acquired Airline Services Limited, the Manchester, UK-based airline services provider
Airline Services, which was established more than three decades ago, ground handles at several UK gateways, although its biggest operation is to be found at London Gatwick, where it handles the aircraft of more than 20 carrier customers. It is a specialist in de-icing, currently de-icing at a dozen UK gateways, as well as providing aircraft ‘cleaning and presentation’ services at those same airports.
The acquisition takes Menzies into four new airport locations – Exeter, Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle – while combining Airline Services with its existing business will “strengthen Menzies’ existing market position, allowing the company to continue growing in the UK by expanding its service offering to new and existing customers at a wider range of locations”, the company says.
Menzies Aviation has brought under its wing 900 new staff, including Nigel Daniel, managing director of Airline Services, whom Airside interviewed for its recent Spring issue. Daniel will take up a leadership position on Menzies’ regional team.
Andy Lord, Menzies Aviation’s executive vice president, Africa and India, comments: “This acquisition has sound strategic logic and is a significant addition to our UK service offering.
“Adding Airline Services to our existing network gives us the opportunity to share facilities and expertise which will enable us to become even more competitive, I am also excited to be taking the Menzies brand and suite of services into four new airport locations.
“The Menzies Aviation team are eager to bring excellence, from touchdown to takeoff, to our newly expanded customer base.”
Lord points out that Airline Services’ de-icing capability was an important aspect of the decision to acquire the handler. “We’re keen to expand our de-icing capability, which made Airline Services – the largest independent provider of aircraft de-icing in the UK – an attractive proposition for us. While we have developed a de-icing business of scale in Continental Europe and the Americas, this has not been the case in the UK until now; this acquisition allows us to become a serious player in the UK de-icing market.”
He continues: “Airline Services also provide cleaning and cabin presentation services, which is another part of the UK market that we have barely featured in to date. In both cases, the acquisition allows us to offer more services to our customers, which is a central element of our corporate strategy.”
Looking forward, Lord confirms that such acquisitions as this one represent a key element of Menzies’ plans for expansion going forward. “Our aim is to be the undisputed, premium airline services provider in the industry, and we believe that in order to secure that position, we must offer the broadest possible range of services across the widest possible spread of locations.
“Achieving that aim will require both organic growth and more strategic acquisitions, so we review opportunities on an ongoing basis as they present themselves.”
Lord concludes: “s part of our ‘Excellence Manifesto’, the strategic plan that we launched last year, we aim to offer the deepest combination of service portfolio and geography in the industry. In practice, that means there are a number of markets and products in which we will seek to expand our customer offering.”
