Edinburgh's Menzies Aviation flying high in LA with latest contract wins

Menzies, the Edinburgh-headquartered global aviation services group, has secured a series of contract wins at Los Angeles International Airport, its largest location in the Americas.

The firm has secured a new contract with Level, IAG’s low-cost airline, to provide full ground services at Los Angeles, also known by its code LAX. Menzies now provides complete coverage to the IAG Group of airlines at LAX, including British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and now Level.

The Scots group has also been awarded a contract with Mexican cargo carrier MAS to support its daily freighter flights. Bosses said this win “further solidifies” the firm as the preferred ramp handler for freighter aircraft at Los Angeles.

Additionally, Menzies and LATAM Group’s global relationship “continues to go from strength to strength” with the former extending its ramp handling contract and adding full passenger handling to the list of services for the Latin American airline’s twice daily flights at LAX.

John Redmond, executive vice president - Americas, Menzies Aviation, said: “We are proud to continue to expand our business at LAX, the largest airport on the west coast.

“These new contracts demonstrate the trust and confidence airlines have in the ability of the Menzies team to provide safe, secure and consistent quality service. We look forward to providing our expertise to MAS and Level, as well as deepening our relationship with the LATAM Group.”

Bosses at Menzies recently accepted a takeover offer by a Kuwaiti firm, creating a business with a combined global headcount of 35,000.

John Menzies started out in 1833 when its eponymous founder opened a bookshop at 61 Princes Street, Edinburgh. The newspaper and magazine distribution business was spun out in 2018, creating Menzies Distribution, and leaving the rest of the firm to focus on providing aviation services.

Menzies and LATAM Group’s global relationship 'continues to go from strength to strength'.

Last month, the aviation group acquired a controlling stake in a firm that provides ground and air cargo handling services in Chile.

Agunsa Aviation Services was a wholly owned subsidiary of Agencias Universales, a large and diverse Chilean business with a long history in logistics, originally in shipping logistics, and in more recent years in aviation. The deal value was not disclosed.

The firm provides services to several international airlines at Santiago de Chile Airport, including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Qatar Airways. It also operates a 110,000-square-foot on-airport cargo warehouse.

This new Chilean business will complement Menzies’ existing operations in five other countries in Central and South America - Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Philipp Joeinig, chief executive, Menzies Aviation, said: “I am excited to enter our sixth country in Latin America and strengthen relationships with some of our largest global airline partners.”

The group operates at more than 210 airports in 38 countries, supported by a global team of 27,000 people.

In 2021, Menzies Aviation handled 600,000 aircraft turns, some 1.7 million tonnes of cargo and fuelled 2.5 million turnarounds. Customers include Air Canada, Air France-KLM, American Airlines, EasyJet, IAG, Qantas Group, Qatar Airways, Southwest, United Airlines and WizzAir.