AN airport handling company, which helps millions of holidaymakers jet off to sunnier climes, says it is well positioned to continue its ascent after buying two rival cargo firms.

John Menzies, which provides ticketing, check-in and baggage services, says its £7.7m acquisition of Australian ground handling company Skystar and £6.4m deal for Colombian ground and cargo firm Desacol will allow it to expand into new markets.

The 180-year-old company, which last month revealed proposals to axe cargo handling at Birmingham, East Midlands, Glasgow and Manchester, said Skystar would give access to eight airports across Australia and New Zealand, with Desacol opening up five Colombian airports, including Bogota, which handles 50,000 tonnes of cargo every year.

The deals were announced as the Edinburgh-based firm, which also delivers more than five million newspapers and two million magazines to retailers every day, revealed its half-year results to June 30, showing underlying profits from its aviation division had risen by ten per cent to £15.5m.

Bosses said the airport work, which covers 131 airports in 29 countries, and employs more than 17,000 workers, had helped lift group turnover to £997m, an increase from £988m in 2012, with group pre-tax profits rising to £18.4m.

However, the results showed underlying operating profits from its distribution arm, which has delivery deals with Associated Newspapers and the Telegraph Media Group, had fallen from £13.5m to £11.8m, with group underlying pre-tax profits dipping from £23.5m to £22.8m.

Chairman Iain Napier said the company was well equipped to continue its growth.

He said: “Despite challenging markets, we remain on track with an unchanged strategy to deliver further growth in the aviation division and cost management in our distribution business.

“The aviation division continues to make progress with a solid trading performance and the acquisitions continue to grow our market share in attractive new markets.”

Earlier this year, Menzies revealed it had renewed deals to handle cargo with Asiana Airlines at Heathrow, Sydney, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and secured a lucrative licence to offer VIP services at Barcelona Airport.