The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the Aviation Services Association (ASA World) congratulate the Royal Schiphol Group for its new tendering procedure to select three ground handling companies to operate at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
The move to reduce the six companies currently carrying out ground handling to three includes new requirements that improve working conditions for ground handling employees. In so doing, Schiphol is taking a vital step forward in raising standards and ensuring fairer competition in the aviation supply chain at one of the world’s biggest airports – we urge other airports to follow suit in order to secure an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable civil aviation industry.
"Schiphol Group is setting a template for the right way forward for ground handling at airports around the world,” said ITF Civil Aviation and Tourism Services Director, Bilal Malkawi. “We recognise that this will be a period of uncertainty for ground handling workers at the airport, but we warmly welcome Schiphol Group’s acknowledgement of this through the introduction of additional labour agreement protections for the transition phase, in addition to its stated intention to retain existing jobs.
"We also congratulate our affiliate union FNV for the organising and campaigning work it has undertaken over many years which has played a key role in this important outcome.”
Under the new tendering process, which was published on 4 December 2025, ground handling companies are required to make more joint use of handling equipment, creating more space on the apron and locking in more efficient use of resources.
ASA Director General, Dr. Waleed Youssef added: “ASA World supports Schiphol’s reforms and calls on all airports to go further by embedding commercial safeguards in their conditions of use in order to ensure that airlines shall adhere to norms set out in industry standards such as the IATA Standard Ground Handling Agreement – SGHA- – which are jointly developed and approved by airlines and ground handling organizations.
Timely payments and fair terms are critical for economic resilience, safety, employee welfare and passenger satisfaction.”
The ITF and ASA World call on airports worldwide to follow the lead set by Schiphol.
