National Aviation Services (NAS) was selected as a preferred bidder by the insolvency administrator of Serviços Portugueses de Handling (SPdH), trading as the ground handling company, Groundforce Portugal. Pending final negotiations with the various stakeholders, including liquidators, TAP Portugal and the Portuguese State, NAS will acquire 50.1% shares of the company in Portugal. Groundforce currently provides ground handling services to TAP Portugal and other airline customers at Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Funchal, and Porto Santo airports.

Hassan El-Houry, Group CEO, NAS said “It is an honor for NAS to be selected for the Groundforce Portugal tender and are excited at the opportunities this brings us to enhance ground handling and cargo services at the different airports in Portugal. This is also a huge milestone for NAS as it marks our first entry into the European ground handling industry.”

NAS has in-depth experience in aviation services – particularly ground handling and cargo management, with a strong track record in delivering high levels of passenger experience, safety, security, quality and On Time Performance (OTP).

Its customers include some of the world’s top airlines - British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France – KLM, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines, among others. The company operates in 23 countries and over 55 airports across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa with an employee strength of more than 8,000.

El-Houry highlighted, “We firmly believe that we have the three key factors necessary to be successful in Portugal, namely - shareholder and management stability which makes us long term investor, financial strength to overcome ups and downs common in the industry and the experience from operating in complex markets which makes us adaptable to challenging environments. This coupled with strong local partnerships ensures we deliver the best in all the countries that we operate in.”

With a strong financial standing, NAS is committed to investing in people, training, technology, and infrastructure, to help make airports more efficient and transforming them into logistics hubs.

El-Houry explained, “People are at the core of our business. Our employees are our frontline to delivering quality services. We are doing our best to retain existing experts while developing more skills and talent in the coming future.”

In line with this, NAS will work towards avoiding any disruptive and drastic measures during the transition and, in the long run, will work with the various parties to implement a more efficient organizational structure and promote better customer experience.

NAS believes that a constructive relationship with the unions and continuous training are the best way to achieve long term success for the company, and a rewarding career for the staff.