Aviapartner Liège
Belgian air-cargo and ramp ground-handling business at Liège Airport, bought in August 2026 by Saudi Arabia's SAL Saudi Logistics Services for about SAR 120 million.
Industry: Airport cargo and ramp ground handling | Location: Liège, Belgium
About Aviapartner Liège
Aviapartner Liège SA is the cargo-handling business of the Belgian ground handler Aviapartner at Liège Airport in Belgium. It provides air-cargo handling, warehouse logistics and ramp services, and handles specialist freight such as pharmaceuticals, perishables and automotive products. Liège is ranked as Europe's fifth-largest cargo airport by freight volume and handles more than one million tonnes of cargo a year. Aviapartner's roots go back to Belgavia, founded in Antwerp in 1949, which extended its services to Ostend in 1957, Liège in 1965 and Brussels in 1970. The group has handled aircraft at Liège since 1965. In 2006 it extended its Liège handling concession for four years, covering ramp work for passenger flights and a separate licence for cargo flights, with the courier operator Night Express a main customer for warehousing services at the time. The Belga news agency reported that the local business, with its roughly 200 employees, was part of the sale, and that Aviapartner said the disposal would let it concentrate on passenger-airline services. Forbes Belgium reported revenue for Aviapartner Liège of EUR 24.7 million in 2023, EUR 28.6 million in 2024 and EUR 24.3 million in 2025. SAL Saudi Logistics Services signed an agreement in early 2026 to buy 100 percent of the share capital of Aviapartner Liège SA from the seller entities Aviapartner Belgium NV and Aviapartner Holding NV, and announced completion in early August 2026 after the required regulatory approvals were received. Breakbulk reported that the deal closed on 2 August 2026. The price was about SAR 120 million, or roughly EUR 28 million, paid in cash from SAL's internal resources; some outlets quoted dollar equivalents of around USD 32 to 33 million depending on the exchange rate used. Clifford Chance advised SAL on the transaction. The acquisition is SAL's first operating presence outside Saudi Arabia and brings its network to 20 stations. SAL has pointed to the planned CargoLand expansion at Liège Airport, which is expected to raise cargo-handling capacity substantially by 2040, as part of the attraction. The purchase also gives the Saudi group a base for air-cargo handling, specialist freight processing, warehouse logistics and road distribution in Europe.