North Hub expects profitable year

  • 2010-04-28
  • From wire reports

RIGA - Airport ground services provider North Hub Services this year plans to work with a 6 million lats (8.5 million euros) turnover, said company CEO John Balkens, reports Nozare.lv. “I can definitely say that the company will work at a profit, and it is important to our future development because [our development] is rapid,” said Balkens, indicating that in the last five years there have not been created any new ground services company in the Nordic and Baltic region, excluding North Hub Services.

As Balkens explains it, large markets require significant capital investment, though yields in this business are low. The executive said that “calculations we made last autumn in developing the business plan is exactly what we now show as reality - a two percent margin, and plusses.”

North Hub Services offers management services for airport passenger service, ramp services, as well as flight operations services. The company has currently signed service contracts with airBaltic, Belavia, Flight Consulting Group, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA and TNT Airways.
Initially, North Hub Services 100 percent shareholder was airBaltic President Bertolt Flick’s Baltic Aviation System, but on April 12, 50 percent of shares were acquired by the Turkish firm Havas Ground Handling Services Co. The transaction amount was reported at 3.2 million euros.