Menzies Aviation has acquired a controlling stake in Agunsa Aviation Services, which provides full ground and air cargo handling services in Santiago, Chile.

Agunsa Aviation Services was a wholly owned subsidiary of Agencias Universales, a large and diverse Chilean business with a long history in logistics, originally in shipping and more recently in aviation.

The Santiago de Chile-based firm provides full ground handling and air cargo handling services to several major international airlines at Santiago de Chile Airport (SCL), including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Qatar Airways. It also operates a 110,000ft2 on-airport cargo warehouse, with the unique ability at SCL to handle a combination of import cargo, export cargo and courier products.

This new Chilean business will complement Menzies’ existing operations in five other countries in Central and South America: Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Menzies Aviation CEO Philipp Joeinig said: “I am excited to enter our sixth country in Latin America and strengthen the relationships with some of our largest global airline partners. We have found a unique partner in Agencias Universales, which has a long and successful history as a leader in logistics in the region and we are looking forward to expanding our business and footprint with our new partner.”