The story
Founded by John Menzies in 1833.1
Bookseller John Menzies founded his eponymous company in Princes Street, Edinburgh, in 1833. Its first airport bookstall opened in Edinburgh in 1948. Menzies bookshops and newsagents spread across the U.K., often located at railway stations. The company bought rival Wyman & Sons in 1959 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1962.
Airport services
In 1976 the company created Air Menzies International (AMI) to offer wholesale airfreight and express services to forwarders, customs brokers, and packaging and courier agents. In 1987 Menzies bought Scan International Group and Cargosave handling companies. AMI was acquired in 1993. Operations from Heathrow Airport began with the acquisition of Concorde Express Transport in 1995.
Menzies' retail division was sold to WHSmith in May 1998. In 2000 Menzies Aviation bought Ogden Aviation to enter the ground handling sector and expanded its international operations. The company began cargo and ground handling services in Australia and the United States in 2006. In January 2007, the company merged its newspaper & magazine wholesale distribution business in Northern Ireland with Eason & Son's to form EM News Distribution. Menzies bought all the joint venture's shares in 2017.
In 2017 Menzies Aviation bought specialist aircraft fueller Aircraft Services International from BBA Aviation. After a planned merger between the Menzies Distribution and DX Group collapsed in 2017, the company sold 90% of its distribution division to Endless.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the company fired 17,500 staff. The number of flights Menzies handled fell by 60% during the second quarter 2020.
In April 2022, Menzies Aviation bought Agunsa Aviation Services, a Santiago-based ground and air cargo handling services company.
Takeover
Read the full text
Agility Logistics bought Menzies Aviation in August 2022 to merge operations with its Kuwaiti National Aviation Services unit.
In 2023 Menzies Aviation bought a majority stake in the Jamaican ground and cargo handling company, AJAS Limited; expanded operations in Mexico, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Italy; and won operating licenses in Canada, Costa Rica, and Chile. In 2024 Menzies Aviation bought half of Hong Kong-based Jardine Aviation Services Group, to form Menzies CNAC Aviation Services. It also bought a controlling interest in Groundforce Portugal. In 2025, the company bought G2 Secure Staff to expand operations in the U.S. and increasing its global presence to 350 airports in 65 countries.
From Wikipedia’s article on Menzies Aviation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5