Edinburgh's Menzies Aviation wins ground-handling contract to serve new Norwegian airline

Edinburgh-headquartered Menzies Aviation has won the ground-handling contract to serve a new Norwegian airline.

The firm will provide services for Flyr at its home base of Oslo Airport as well as at Nice Airport in the south of France.

The airline will offer domestic flights from Oslo, alongside international services to European leisure destinations, with its inaugural flight due to take off from Oslo for Tromso.

Menzies said the three-year contracts will encompass passenger, ramp and de-icing services. These agreements will further strengthen the firm’s operations at both Oslo and Nice and represent up to 6,000 aircraft turns per year across the two locations.

The airline will offer domestic flights from Oslo, alongside international services to European leisure destinations, with its inaugural flight due to take off from Oslo for Tromso.

Miguel Gomez Sjunnesson, executive vice president at Menzies Aviation, said: “We are very excited to be partnering with Flyr as it starts these new services. We are already working closely together to deliver a successful start-up and a seamless operation.

“Supporting Flyr from the launch of its operations is a mark of the excellent standard of service we provide our customers. We look forward to developing a long-term relationship with Flyr.”

Bjorn Erik Barman-Jenssen, chief ground operations officer at the new airline, said: “Throughout the whole tender process, Menzies Aviation showed a willingness to work with us to take the airport experience to a new level, while being responsive and creative in their approach to our visions and goals.

“I know that our Menzies colleagues will do their utmost to provide the highest standards of customer experience alongside our dedicated crew. I look forward to working with Menzies to further develop this partnership and create a new norm for a friendly and hassle-free airport experience.”

In 2020, Menzies Aviation handled half a million “aircraft turns”, 1.2 million tonnes of cargo and fuelled 1.9 million turnarounds. Airline customers include Air France-KLM, EasyJet, British Airways-owner IAG and United Airlines.

In April, the firm hailed a five-year contract at a major US airport as “one of the most significant wins” in the history of its cargo business.

The group said that following a competitive process, Avianca had selected the firm as its cargo handling partner of choice at Miami International Airport.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions