JOHN Menzies has won more business from a key customer as the aviation market recovers from the impact of the pandemic.

The Edinburgh-based group said it has secured an extension to a long-standing ground services partnership with easyJet at 21 airports across Europe.

It noted the contracts cover a range of ground services, such as passenger, ramp, cabin cleaning and de-icing, for easyJet flights at major European and UK airports, adding: “Collectively, these contracts represent over 80,000 turns annually.”

The contract extensions agreed with one of the industry’s leading players appear to provide a vote of confidence in John Menzies.

The group said: “Menzies has a well-established relationship with the airline, dating back over 15 years, with a particularly long history of handling easyJet at its home base at London Luton Airport.”

Contracts covering ground handling at Luton airport and de-icing and cleaning work at Edinburgh airport have been extended.

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The other airports where John Menzies provides support for easyJet include 11 across Spain.

Last month easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said the group had significantly ramped up its flying in the quarter to September 30 and had been the second largest airline operating in Europe this summer.

In an update on trading, he declared: “It is clear recovery is underway … We have seen city breaks beginning to return alongside growing demand for leisure travel from customers looking for flights and holidays to popular winter sun destinations.”

Noting “positive booking momentum”, Mr Lundgren said easyJet had increased its capacity plans for the current quarter to 70 per cent of 2019 levels.

In its interim results announcement, in September John Menzies said the aviation sector had begun to recover. It added: “Although there will be regional variations, we currently do not anticipate a return to the volume of ground services and fuelling business that we had in 2019 before 2023.