National Aviation Services (NAS) has acquired a 51% stake in Siginon Aviation which provides airport ground handling and cargo management services at two Kenyan airports.

The deal means that NAS has expanded its presence in Africa through the addition of Nairobi and Eldoret airports in Kenya.

NAS group chief executive Hassan El-Houry said: “During the pandemic, our cargo services came to the forefront by keeping crucial supply chains flowing uninterrupted.

“With the ongoing vaccine requirements around the world, we also handled almost a million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine at different African airports. With this growing demand, we expanded our focus on cargo management in Africa and the partnership with Siginon Aviation is indeed timely.”

In the last decade, Siginon Aviation has invested in its ground handling capacity with several upgrades including relaunching its operations in a new air cargo terminal and acquisition of ramp equipment to boost its operations in JKIA, Nairobi.

El-Houry added: “In 2018, we committed to investing $50m into the African aviation sector over a period of three years. With the pandemic, the global aviation industry suffered a major slowdown and NAS experienced an 85% drop in revenue.

“Despite the challenges, we remained focused on our commitment to the sector and thrived during a very difficult period.”

In the last year, NAS has launched operations in 14 airports across South Africa, DRC, Guinea Bissau and Zambia.

NAS is present in over 55 airports across Africa, the Middle East and South Asia and provides ground-handling services to over 100 airlines globally.

 

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