15 Jul 2024 | Zurich, Switzerland
Swissport has appointed Ajay Barolia as Senior Vice President Cargo, and Peter Weir as Senior Vice President Cargo Commercial, both for the United States and Canada. Together with the cargo team they will drive the expansion of Swissport’s service portfolio in a strategic market for the air cargo industry.
Swissport International, the global leader in airport ground services and air cargo handling, has named Ajay Barolia as its new Senior Vice President for Cargo in North America. He will join Swissport on 15 July 2024 from Qatar Airways, where he spent over nine years in different senior roles, most recently as Vice President Global Cargo Operations for the airline. At the same time, Peter Weir will join Swissport as Senior Vice President, Cargo Commercial for North America. He joins Swissport from Menzies Aviation where he served over 20 years in various leadership roles responsible for Cargo Operations, Ground Handling, Sales, and Business Development.
“We are pleased to welcome Ajay Barolia and Peter Weir to our global cargo team. They are experienced leaders with a deep understanding of air cargo operations and a keen business acumen,” says Dirk Goovaerts, Global Cargo Chair of Swissport International. “Their extensive industry knowledge and experience will be vital as we continue to expand our cargo services portfolio across North America, adding value to the business of our existing and future customers.”
In the United States and Canada, Swissport serves more than 150 airline customers and freight forwarders, offering them access to new markets and trade lanes out of its 19 air cargo centers. Many of them are equipped with temperature-controlled areas to handle perishables and sensitive cargo from the pharmaceutical industry. The cargo team in North America will continue to expand the product line, in addition to growing the freight forwarder handling business and special logistics solutions tailored to the e-commerce industry.
To support the efficient flow of all kinds of cargo shipments, Swissport has been continuously investing into digital tools at all its locations in North America, first and foremost into Cargospot, a state-of-the-art cargo operations and terminal management system. These advancements enable Swissport to continuously enhance operational efficiency and add value for customers.
Recently, Swissport was awarded the Global Air Cargo Handling Agent of the Year, as voted for by industry customers, at the 2024 ACW World Air Cargo Awards in Shanghai.
In 2023, Swissport International AG provided best-in-class airport ground services for some 232 million airline passengers (2022: 186 million) and handled roughly 4.7 million tons of air freight (2022: 4.8 million) at 115 air cargo centers worldwide. Several of its warehouses have been certified for pharmaceutical logistics by IATA’s CEIV Pharma and by the British MHRA. At the end of December 2023, the world’s leader in airport ground services and air cargo handling, with currently around 60,000 employees, was active at 286 airports in 44 countries on six continents.
