The Australian Oneworld member Qantas wants to reduce costs and in future have them carried out by external service providers at those airports where ground handling was previously carried out themselves. In "down under" this measure is particularly controversial among employee representatives.

Now the carrier has announced that a contract has been signed with Swissport in Melbourne, Sydney and the capital Canberra. The contract will initially run for five years and should include around 70.000 flights per year. Whether or not there will be a transfer of operations for the Qantas people has not yet been determined.