• #Air_Partner: the Home Office’s little-known deportation fixer

    International travel megacorp #Carlson_Wagonlit_Travel (#CWT) holds a £5.7 million, seven-year contract with the Home Office for the “provision of travel services for immigration purposes”, as it has done for nearly two decades. However, a key part of its work – the chartering of aircraft and crew to carry out the deportations – has been subcontracted to a little-known aviation charter outfit called Air Partner.

    Summary

    Digging deeper into Air Partner, we found a company which has been quietly organising mass deportations for the Home Office for years. We also learnt that:

    It likely arranged for the airline #Privilege_Style to carry out the aborted flight to #Rwanda, and will seek another airline if the Rwanda scheme goes ahead.
    It has organised deportation logistics for the US and several European governments.
    It is currently one of four beneficiaries of a €15 million framework contract to arrange charter deportations for the European Coast Guard and Border Agency, #Frontex.
    The company grew off the back of military contracts, with profits soaring during the ‘War on Terror’, the Arab Spring, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
    Its regular clients include politicians, celebrities and sports teams, and it recently flew teams and fans to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
    Air Partner was bought in spring 2022 by American charter airline, Wheels Up, but that company is in troubled financial waters.

    Air Partner: Home Office deportation broker

    In Carlson Wagonlit’s current contract award notice, published on the EU website Tenders Electronic Daily, the “management and provision of aircraft(s) charter services” is subcontracted to Air Partner – a detail which is redacted in documents on the UK government’s procurement site. In other words, when the Home Office wants to carry out a mass deportation flight, the task of finding the airline is delegated to Air Partner.

    The contract stipulates that for each charter flight, Air Partner must solicit bids from at least three potential airlines. Selection is on the basis of value for money. However, the contract also states that “the maximum possible flexibility “ is expected from the carrier in terms of dates and destinations. The winning bidder must also be morally comfortable with the work, although it is not clear at what point in the process a first-time deportation airline is fully informed of the nature of the task.

    The contract suggests that airlines like #Privilege_Style, #Titan_Airways, #Hi_Fly and #TUI, therefore, owe their entry into the UK deportation business to Air Partner, which effectively acts as gatekeeper to the sector. Meanwhile, #Carlson_Wagonlit books the tickets, oversees the overall operation, arranges deportations on scheduled flights, and liaises with the guards who physically enforce the expulsion (currently supplied by the company that runs Manston camp, Mitie, in a Home Office escorting contract that runs until 2028).

    The latest deal between the Home Office and Carlson Wagonlit was awarded in 2017 and runs until 31st October 2024. It is likely that Air Partner makes money through a commission on each deportation flight.

    Flying for Frontex

    Yet Air Partner isn’t just the UK government’s deportation dealer. Its Austrian branch is currently one of four companies which organise mass expulsions for the European Coast Guard and Border Agency, Frontex, in a €15 million framework contract that was renewed in August 2022. A framework contract is essentially a deal in which a few companies are chosen to form a pool of select suppliers of particular goods or services, and are then called upon when needed. The work was awarded without advertising, which Frontex can do when the tender is virtually identical as in the previous contract.

    Frontex organises deportation charter flights – either for multiple EU states at a time (where the plane stops to pick up deportees from several countries) – or for a single state. The Agency also arranges for individuals to be deported on regular commercial flights.

    Air Partner’s work for Frontex is very similar to its work for the Home Office. It sources willing aircraft and crew, obtains flight and landing permits, and organises hotels – presumably for personnel – “in case of delays”. The other beneficiaries of the framework contract are #Air_Charter_Service, #Professional_Aviation_Solutions, and #AS_Aircontact.

    Air Charter Service is a German company, sister of a Surrey-based business of the same name, and is owned by Knightsbridge private equity firm, #Alcuin_Capital_Partners. Professional Aviation Solutions is another German charter company, owned by #Skylink_Holding. Finally, Norwegian broker AS Aircontact is a subsidiary of travel firm #Aircontact_Group, ultimately owned by chairman #Johan_Stenersen. AS Aircontact has benefited from the Frontex deal for many years.

    The award was given to the four companies on the basis of lowest price, with each bidder having to state the price it was able to obtain for a range of specified flights. The companies then bid for specific deportations, with the winner being the one offering best value for money. Air Partner’s cut from the deal in 2021 was €2.7 million.

    The contract stipulates the need for total secrecy:

    [The contractor] Must apply the maximum discretion and confidentiality in relation to the activity… must not document or share information on the activity by any means such as photo, video, commenting or sharing in social media, or equivalent.

    The Frontex award effectively means that Air Partner and the other three firms can carry out work on behalf of all EU states. But the company’s involvement with deportations doesn’t stop there: Air Partner has also profited for years from similar contracts with a number of individual European governments.

    The company has done considerable work in Ireland, having been appointed as one of its official deportation brokers back in 2005. Ten years later, the Irish Department of Justice was recorded as having paid Air Partner to carry out a vaguely-described “air charter” job (on a web page that is no longer available), while in 2016 the same department paid Air Partner €240,000 for “returns air charter” – government-speak for deportation flights.

    Between August 2021 and February 2022, the Austrian government awarded the company six Frontex-funded deportation contracts, worth an estimated average of €33,796.

    The company also enjoys a deportation contract with the German government, in a deal reviewed annually. The current contract runs until February 2023.

    Finally, Air Partner has held deportation contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and has been involved in deporting Mexican migrants to the US as far back as the early 2000s.1
    Relationship with the airlines

    In the first half of 2021, 22 of the EU’s 27 member states participated in Frontex flights, with Germany making far greater use of the ‘service’ than any other country. The geographic scale of Air Partner’s work gives an indication of the privileged access it has as gatekeeper to Europe’s lucrative ‘deportation market’, and ultimately, the golden land of government contracts more generally.

    For example, British carrier Titan Airways – which has long carried out deportations for the Home Office – only appears to have broken into this market in Germany and Austria in 2018 and 2019, respectively. As Corporate Watch has documented, other airlines such as Privilege Style, #AirTanker, #Wamos and #Iberojet (formerly, #Evelop) regularly run deportation flights for a number of governments, including the UK. We can assume that Air Partner’s relationships with the firms are key to these companies’ ability to secure such deals in new markets.

    Some of these relationships are clearly personal: #Alastair_Wilson, managing director of Titan Airways, worked as trading manager for Air Partner for seven years until he left that firm for Titan in 2014. By 2017, Titan was playing a major role in forcible expulsions from the UK.

    The business: from military money to deportation dealer

    Air Partner’s origins are in military work. Founded in 1961, the company started its life as a training centre which helped military pilots switch to the commercial sector. Known for much of its history as Air London, it has enjoyed extensive Ministry of Defence deals for troop rotations and the supply of military equipment. Up until 2010, military contracts represented over 60% of pre-tax profits. However, in recent years it has managed to wean itself off the MOD and develop a more diverse clientele; by 2018, the value of military contracts had dropped to less than 3% of profits.

    The company’s main business is in brokering aircraft for charter flights, and sourcing planes from its pool of partner airlines at the request of customers who want to hire them. It owns no aircraft itself. Besides governments and wealthy individuals, its current client base includes “corporates, sports and entertainment teams, industrial and manufacturing customers, and tour operators.”

    Its other source of cash is in training and consultancy to government, military and commercial customers through three subsidiaries: its risk management service Baines Simmons, the Redline Security project, and its disaster management sideline, Kenyon Emergency Services. Conveniently, while the group’s main business pumps out fossil fuels on needless private flights, Kenyon’s disaster management work involves among other things, preparing customers for climate change-induced natural disasters.

    Despite these other projects, charter work represents the company’s largest income stream by far, at 87% of the group’s profits. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority of this is from leasing large jets to customers such as governments, sports teams and tour operators. Its second most lucrative source of cash is leasing private jets to the rich, including celebrities. Finally, its freight shipments tend to be the least profitable division of its charter work.

    The company’s charter division continues to be “predominantly driven by government work”.2 It has been hired by dozens of governments and royal families worldwide, and almost half the profits from its charter work now derive from the US, although France has long been an important market too.

    Ferrying the mega-rich

    Meanwhile, Air Partner’s work shuttling politicians and other VIPs no doubt enables the company to build up its bank of useful contacts which help it secure such lucrative government deals. Truly this is a company of the mega-rich: a “last-minute, half-term holiday” with the family to Madeira costs a mere £36,500 just for the experience of a private jet. It was the first aircraft charter company to have held a Royal Warrant, and boasts of having flown US election candidates and supplying George W Bush’s press plane.3

    The “group charter” business works with bands and sports teams. The latter includes the Wales football team, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid, while the Grand Prix is “always a firm fixture in the charter calendar”.4 It also flew teams and fans to the controversial 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.5

    Crisis profiteer: the War on Terror, the Arab Spring & Covid-19

    Air Partner has cashed in on one crisis after the next. Not only that, it even contributes to one, and in so doing multiplies its financial opportunities. As military contractor to belligerent Western forces in the Middle East, the company is complicit in the creation of refugees – large numbers of whom Air Partner would later deport back to those war zones. It feeds war with invading armies, then feasts on its casualties.

    The company reportedly carried at least 4,000t of military supplies during the first Gulf War. The chairman at the time, Tony Mack, said:

    The Gulf War was a windfall for us. We’d hate to say ‘yippee, we’re going to war’, but I guess the net effect would be positive.6

    And in its financial records over the past twenty years, three events really stand out: 9/11 and the ‘War on Terror’, the Arab Spring, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

    9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror was a game changer for the company, marking a departure from reliance on corporate customers and a shift to more secure government work. First – as with the pandemic – there was a boom in private jet hire due to “the number of rich clients who are reluctant to travel on scheduled services”.7

    But more significant were the military contracts it was to obtain during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. During the occupation of Afghanistan, it “did a lot of freighting for the military”,8 while later benefiting from emergency evacuation work when coalition foreign policy came to its inevitably grim conclusion in 2021.

    It enjoyed major military assignments with coalition forces in Iraq,9 with the UK’s eventual withdrawal resulting in a 19% drop in freight sales for the company. At one point, Air Partner lamented that its dip in profits was in part due to the temporary “cessation of official hostilities” and the non-renewal of its 2003 “Gulf contracts”.

    9/11 and the aggression that followed was a boon for Air Partner’s finances. From 2001-02, pre-tax profits increased to then record levels, jumping 85% from £2.2 million to £4 million. And it cemented the company’s fortunes longer-term; a 2006 company report gives insight into the scale of the government work that went Air Partner’s way:

    … over the last decade alone, many thousands of contracts worth over $500m have been successfully completed for the governments of a dozen Western Powers including six of the current G8 member states.

    Two years on, Air Partner’s then-CEO, #David_Savile, was more explicit about the impact of the War on Terror:

    Whereas a decade ago the team was largely servicing the Corporate sector, today it majors on global Government sector clients. Given the growing agenda of leading powers to pursue active foreign policies, work levels are high and in today’s climate such consistent business is an important source of income.

    Profits soared again in 2007, coinciding with the bloodiest year of the Iraq war – and one which saw the largest US troop deployment. Its chairman at the time said:

    The events of 9/11 were a watershed for the aviation industry…since then our sales have tripled and our profitability has quadrupled. We now expect a period of consolidation… which we believe will present longer term opportunities to develop new business and new markets.

    It seems likely that those “new markets” may have included deportation work, given that the first UK charter deportations were introduced by the New Labour government in 2001, the same year as the invasion of Afghanistan.

    Another financial highlight for the company was the 2011 Arab Spring, which contributed to a 93% increase in pre-tax profits. Air Partner had earlier won a four-year contract with the Department for International Development (DfID) to become its “sole provider of passenger and freight air charter services”, and had been hired to be a charter broker to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Crisis Centre.

    As people in Libya, Egypt, Bahrain and Tunisia took to the streets against their dictators, the company carried out emergency evacuations, including for “some of the largest oil companies”. A year later, it described a “new revenue stream from the oil & gas industry”, perhaps a bonus product of the evacuation work.

    Finally, its largest jump in profits was seen in 2021, as it reaped the benefits of converging crises: the pandemic, the evacuation of Afghanistan, and the supply chain crisis caused by Brexit and the severe congestion of global sea-shipping routes. The company was tasked with repatriation flights, PPE shipments, and “flying agricultural workers into the UK from elsewhere in Europe”, as well as responding to increased demand for “corporate shuttles” in the UK and US.10 Pre-tax profits soared 833% to £8.4 million. It made a gross profit of approximately £45 million in both 2021 and 2022. The company fared so well in fact from the pandemic that one paper summed it up with an article entitled “Air Partner takes off after virus grounds big airlines”.

    While there is scant reporting on the company’s involvement in deportations, The Times recently mentioned that Air Partner “helps in the deporting of individuals to Africa and the Caribbean, a business that hasn’t slowed down during the pandemic”. In a rare direct reference to deportation work, CEO Mark Briffa responded that it:

    …gives Wheels Up [Air Partner’s parent company] a great opportunity to expand beyond private jets…It was always going to be a challenge for a company our size to scale up and motor on beyond where we are.

    Yet Briffa’s justification based on the apparent need to diversify beyond VIP flights looks particularly hollow against the evidence of decades of lucrative government work his company has enjoyed.

    When asked for comment, a spokesperson from the company’s PR firm TB Cardew said:

    As a policy, we do not comment on who we fly or where we fly them. Customer privacy, safety and security are paramount for Air Partner in all of our operations. We do not confirm, deny or comment on any potential customer, destination or itinerary.

    The parent company: Wheels Up

    Air Partner was bought in spring 2022 for $108.2 million by Wheels Up Experience Inc, a US charter airline which was recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company calls itself one of the world’s largest private aviation companies, with over 180 owned or long-term leased aircraft, 150 managed fleet (a sort of sharing arrangement with owners), and 1,200 aircraft which it can hire for customers when needed.

    In contrast to Air Partner, its new owner is in deep trouble. While Wheels Up’s revenues have increased considerably over the past few years (from $384 million in 2019 to $1.2 billion in 2022), these were far outweighed by its costs. It made a net loss in 2021 of $190 million, more than double that of the previous year. The company attributes this to the ongoing impact of Covid-19, with reduced crew availability and customer cancellations. And the situation shows no sign of abating, with a loss of $276.5 million in the first nine months of this year alone. Wheels Up is responding with “aggressive cost-cutting”, including some redundancies.

    #Wheels_Up is, in turn, 20% owned by #Delta_Airlines, one of the world’s oldest and largest airlines. Mammoth asset manager Fidelity holds an 8% share, while Wheels Up’s CEO #Kenneth_Dichter owns 5%. Meanwhile, the so-called ‘Big Three’ asset managers, BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street each hold smaller shareholdings.

    Among its clients, Wheels Up counts various celebrities – some of whom have entered into arrangements to promote the company as ‘brand ambassadors’. These apparently include Jennifer Lopez, American football players Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, J.J. Watt, Joey Logano, and Serena Williams.

    Given Wheel’s Up’s current financial situation, it can be safely assumed that government contracts will not be easily abandoned, particularly in a time of instability in the industry as a whole. At the same time, given the importance of Wheels Up as a brand and its VIP clientele, anything that poses a risk to its reputation would need to be handled delicately by the company.

    It also remains to be seen whether Wheels Up will use its own fleet to fulfil Air Partner’s contracting work, and potentially become a supplier of deportation planes in its own right.
    Top people

    Air Partner has been managed by CEO #Mark_Briffa since 2010. A former milkman and son of Maltese migrants, Briffa grew up in an East Sussex council house and left school with no O or A levels. He soon became a baggage handler at Gatwick airport, eventually making his way into sales and up the ladder to management roles. Briffa is also president of the parent company, Wheels Up.

    #Ed_Warner OBE is the company’s chair, which means he leads on its strategy and manages the board of directors. An Oxbridge-educated banker and former chair of UK Athletics, Warner no doubt helps Air Partner maintain its connections in the world of sport. He sits on the board of private equity fund manager HarbourVest, and has previously been chairman of BlackRock Energy and Resources Income Trust, which invests in mining and energy.

    #Kenny_Dichter is founder and CEO of Air Partner’s US parent company, Wheels Up. Dichter is an entrepreneur who has founded or provided early investment to a list of somewhat random companies, from a chain of ‘wellness’ stores, to a brand of Tequila.

    #Tony_Mack was chairman of the business founded by his parents for 23 years and a major shareholder, before retiring from Air Partner in 2014. Nowadays he prefers to spend his time on the water, where he indulges in yacht racing.

    Some of Air Partner’s previous directors are particularly well-connected. #Richard_Everitt, CBE held the company chairmanship from 2012 until 2017. A solicitor by training, prior to joining Air Partner Everitt was a director of the British Aviation Authority (BAA) and chief executive of National Air Traffic Services (Nats), and then CEO of the Port of London Authority (PLA). Since leaving the PLA, he has continued his career on the board of major transport authorities, having twice been appointed by the Department of Transport as chair of Dover Harbour Board, a two-day per week job with an annual salary of £79,500. He also served as a commissioner of Belfast Harbour.

    One figure with friends in high places was the Hon. #Rowland_John_Fromanteel_Cobbold, who was an Air Partner director from 1996 to 2004. Cobbold was the son of 1st Baron Cobbold, former Governor of the Bank of England and former Lord Chamberlain, an important officer of the royal household. He was also grandson of Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton and governor of Bengal, and younger brother of 2nd Baron Cobbold, who was a crossbench peer.

    #Lib_Dem peer #Lord_Lee of Trafford held significant shares in Air Partner from at least 2007 until the company was bought by Wheels Up in 2022. Lord Lee served as parliamentary undersecretary for MOD Procurement under Margaret Thatcher, as well as Minister for Tourism. In 2015 the value of his 113,500 shares totalled £446,000. His shares in the company were despite having been Lib Dem party spokesman on defence at the time. Seemingly, having large stakes in a business which benefits from major MOD contracts, whilst simultaneously advocating on defence policy was not deemed a serious conflict of interest. The former stockbroker is now a regular columnist for the Financial Times. Calling himself the “first ISA millionaire”, Lee published a book called “How to Make a Million – Slowly: Guiding Principles From a Lifetime Investing”.

    The company’s recent profits have been healthy enough to ensure that those at the top are thoroughly buffered from the current cost of living crisis, as all executive and non-executive directors received a hefty pay rise. Its 2022 Annual Report reveals that CEO Mark Briffa’s pay package totalled £808,000 (£164,000 more than he received in 2021) and outgoing Chief Financial Officer Joanne Estell received £438,000 (compared with £369,000 in 2021), not to mention that Briffa and Estell were awarded a package in spring 2021 of 100% and 75% of their salary in shares. Given the surge in Air Partner’s share price just before the buyout, it’s likely that the net worth of its directors – and investors like Lord Lee – has significantly increased too.

    Conclusion

    What really is the difference between the people smugglers vilified daily by right-wing rags, and deportation merchants like Air Partner? True, Air Partner helps cast humans away in the opposite direction, often to places of danger rather than potential safety. And true, smugglers’ journeys are generally more consensual, with migrants themselves often hiring their fixers. But for a huge fee, people smugglers and deportation profiteers alike ignore the risks and indignities involved, as human cargo is shunted around in the perverse market of immigration controls.

    In October 2022, deportation airline Privilege Style announced it would pull out of the Rwanda deal following strategic campaigning by groups including Freedom from Torture and SOAS Detainee Support. This is an important development and we can learn lessons from the direct action tactics used. Yet campaigns against airlines are continuously being undermined by Air Partner – who, as the Home Office’s deportation fixer, will simply seek others to step in.

    And under the flashing blue lights of a police state, news that an airline will merely be deporting refugees to their countries of origin – however dangerous – rather than to a distant African processing base, might be seen as wonderful news. It isn’t. Instead of becoming accustomed to a dystopian reality, let’s be spurred on by the campaign’s success to put an end to this cruel industry in its entirety.
    Appendix: Air Partner Offices

    Air Partner’s addresses, according to its most recent annual report, are as follows:

    - UK: 2 City Place, Beehive Ring Road, Gatwick, West Sussex RH6 0PA.
    - France: 89/91 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris & 27 Boulevard Saint-Martin, 75003 Paris.
    - Germany: Im Mediapark 5b, 50670 Köln.
    - Italy: Via Valtellina 67, 20159 Milano.
    - Turkey: Halil Rıfatpaşa Mh Yüzer Havuz Sk No.1 Perpa Ticaret Merkezi ABlok Kat.12 No.1773, Istanbul.

    Footnotes

    1 Aldrick, Philip. “Worth teaming up with Air Partner”. The Daily Telegraph, October 07, 2004.

    2 “Air Partner makes progress in the face of some strong headwinds”. Proactive Investors UK, August 27, 2021.

    3 Aldrick, Philip. “Worth teaming up with Air Partner”. The Daily Telegraph, October 07, 2004.

    4 Lea, Robert. “Mark Briffa has a new partner in aircraft chartering and isn’t about to fly away”. The Times, April 29, 2022

    5 Ibid.

    6 “AirPartner predicts rise in demand if Gulf war begins”. Flight International, January 14 2003.

    7 “Celebrity status boosts Air Partner”. Yorkshire Post, October 10, 2002.

    8 Baker, Martin. “The coy royal pilot”. The Sunday Telegraph, April 11, 2004.

    9 Hancock, Ciaran. “Air Partner”. Sunday Times, April 10, 2005.

    10 Saker-Clark, Henry. “Repatriation and PPE flights boost Air Partner”. The Herald, May 6, 2020.

    https://corporatewatch.org/air-partner-the-home-offices-deportation-fixer
    #avions #compagnies_aériennes #Home_Office #UK #Angleterre #renvois #expulsions #business #complexe_militaro-industriel

    via @isskein

  • #Evelop / #Barceló_Group : deportation planes from Spain

    The Barceló Group is a leading Spanish travel and hotel company whose airline Evelop is an eager deportation profiteer. Evelop is currently the Spanish government’s main charter deportation partner, running all the country’s mass expulsion flights through a two-year contract, while carrying out deportations from several other European countries as well.

    This profile has been written in response to requests from anti-deportation campaigners. We look at how:

    - The Barceló Group’s airline Evelop has a €9.9m, 18-month deportation contract with the Spanish government. The contract is up for renewal and Barceló is bidding again.
    - Primary beneficiaries of the contract alternate every few years between Evelop and Globalia’s Air Europa.
    – Evelop also carried out deportations from the UK last year to Jamaica, Ghana and Nigeria.
    – The Barceló Group is run and owned by the Barceló family. It is currently co-chaired by the Barceló cousins, Simón Barceló Tous and Simón Pedro Barceló Vadell. Former senator Simón Pedro Barceló Vadell, of the conservative Partido Popular (PP) party, takes the more public-facing role.
    – The company is Spain’s second biggest hotel company, although the coronavirus pandemic appears to have significantly impacted this aspect of its work.

    What’s the business?

    The Barceló Group (‘#Barceló_Corporación_Empresarial, S.A.’) is made up of the #Barceló_Hotel_Group, Spain’s second largest hotel company, and a travel agency and tour operator division known as #Ávoris. Ávoris runs two airlines: the Portuguese brand #Orbest, which anti-deportation campaigners report have also carried out charter deportations, and the Spanish company, #Evelop, founded in 2013.

    The Barceló Group is based in Palma, #Mallorca. It was founded by the Mallorca-based Barceló family in 1931 as #Autocares_Barceló, which specialised in the transportation of people and goods, and has been managed by the family for three generations. The Barceló Group has a stock of over 250 hotels in 22 countries and claims to employ over 33,000 people globally, though we don’t know if this figure has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused massive job losses in the tourism industry.

    The Hotel division has four brands: #Royal_Hideaway_Luxury_Hotels & Resorts; #Barceló_Hotels & Resorts; #Occidental_Hotels & Resorts; and #Allegro_Hotels. The company owns, manages and rents hotels worldwide, mostly in Spain, Mexico and the US. It works in the United States through its subsidiary, Crestline Hotels & Resorts, which manages third-party hotels, including for big brands like Marriott and Hilton.

    Ávoris, the travel division, runs twelve tour brands, all platforms promoting package holidays.

    Their airlines are small, primarily focused on taking people to sun and sand-filled holidays. In total the Barceló Group airlines have a fleet of just nine aircraft, with one on order, according to the Planespotters website. However, three of these have been acquired in the past two years and a fourth is due to be delivered. Half are leased from Irish airplane lessor Avolon. Evelop serves only a few routes, mainly between the Caribbean and the Iberian peninsula, as well as the UK.

    Major changes are afoot as Ávoris is due to merge with #Halcón_Viajes_and_Travelplan, both subsidiaries of fellow Mallorcan travel giant #Globalia. The combined entity will become the largest group of travel agencies in Spain, employing around 6,000 people. The Barceló Group is due to have the majority stake in the new business.

    Barceló has also recently announced the merger of Evelop with its other airline Orbest, leading to a new airline called Iberojet (the name of a travel agency already operated by Ávoris).

    The new airline is starting to sell scheduled flights in addition to charter operations. Evelop had already announced a reduction in its charter service, at a time when its scheduled airline competitors, such as #Air_Europa, have had to be bailed out to avoid pandemic-induced bankruptcy. Its first scheduled flights will be mainly to destinations in Central and South America, notably Cuba and the Domican Republic, though they are also offering flights to Tunisia, the Maldives and Mauritius.

    Deportation dealers

    Evelop currently holds the contract to carry out the Spanish government’s mass deportation flights, through an agreement made with the Spanish Interior Ministry in December 2019. Another company, Air Nostrum, which operates the Iberia Regional franchise, transports detainees within Spain, notably to Madrid, from where they are deported by Evelop. The total value of the contract for the two airlines is €9.9m, and lasts 18 months.

    This is the latest in a long series of such contracts. Over the years, the beneficiaries have alternated between the Evelop- #Air_Nostrum partnership, and another partnership comprising Globalia’s #Air_Europa, and #Swiftair (with the former taking the equivalent role to that of Evelop). So far, the Evelop partnership has been awarded the job twice, while its Air Europa rival has won the bidding three times.

    However, the current deal will end in spring 2021, and a new tender for a contract of the same value has been launched. The two bidders are: Evelop-Air Nostrum; and Air Europa in partnership with #Aeronova, another Globalia subsidiary. A third operator, #Canary_Fly, has been excluded from the bidding for failing to produce all the required documentation. So yet again, the contract will be awarded to companies either owned by the Barceló Group or Globalia.

    On 10 November 2020, Evelop carried out the first charter deportations from Spain since the restrictions on travel brought about by the cCOVID-19 pandemic. On board were 22 migrants, mostly Senegalese, who had travelled by boat to the Canary Islands. Evelop and the Spanish government dumped them in Mauritania, under an agreement with the country to accept any migrants arriving on the shores of the Islands. According to El País newspaper, the number of actual Mauritanians deported to that country is a significant minority of all deportees. Anti-deportation campaigners state that since the easing up of travel restrictions, Evelop has also deported people to Georgia, Albania, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

    Evelop is not only eager to cash in on deportations in Spain. Here in the UK, Evelop carried out at least two charter deportations last year: one to Ghana and Nigeria from Stansted on 30 January 2020; and one to Jamaica from Doncaster airport on 11 February in the same year. These deportations took place during a period of mobile network outages across Harmondsworth and Colnbrook detention centres, which interfered with detainees’ ability to access legal advice to challenge their expulsion, or speak to loved ones.

    According to campaigners, the company reportedly operates most of Austria and Germany’s deportations to Nigeria and Ghana, including a recent joint flight on 19 January. It also has operated deportations from Germany to Pakistan and Bangladesh.

    Evelop is not the only company profiting from Spain’s deportation machine. The Spanish government also regularly deports people on commercial flights operated by airlines such as Air Maroc, Air Senegal, and Iberia, as well as mass deportations by ferry to Morocco and Algeria through the companies #Transmediterránea, #Baleària and #Algérie_Ferries. #Ferry deportations are currently on hold due to the pandemic, but Air Maroc reportedly still carry out regular deportations on commercial flights to Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.

    Where’s the money?

    The financial outlook for the Barceló Group as a whole at the end of 2019 seemed strong, having made a net profit of €135 million.

    Before the pandemic, the company president said that he had planned to prioritise its hotels division over its tour operator segment, which includes its airlines. Fast forward a couple of years and its hotels are struggling to attract custom, while one of its airlines has secured a multimillion-euro deportation contract.

    Unsurprisingly, the coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the Barceló Group’s operations. The company had to close nearly all of its hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa during the first wave of the pandemic, with revenue down 99%. In the Caribbean, the hotel group saw a 95% drop in revenue in May, April and June. They fared slightly better in the US, which saw far fewer COVID-19 restrictions, yet revenue there still declined 89%. By early October, between 20-60% of their hotels in Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean had reopened across the regions, but with occupancy at only 20-60%.

    The company has been negotiating payments with hotels and aircraft lessors in light of reduced demand. It claims that it has not however had to cut jobs, since the Spanish government’s COVID-19 temporary redundancy plans enable some workers to be furloughed and prevent employers from firing them in that time.

    Despite these difficulties, the company may be saved, like other tourism multinationals, by a big bailout from the state. Barceló’s Ávoris division is set to share a €320 million bailout from the Spanish government as part of the merger with Globalia’s subsidiaries. Is not known if the Barceló Group’s hotel lines will benefit from state funds.

    Key people

    The eight members of the executive board are unsurprisingly, male, pale and frail; as are all ten members of the Ávoris management team.

    The company is co-chaired by cousins with confusingly similar names: #Simón_Barceló_Tous and #Simón_Pedro_Barceló_Vadell. We’ll call them #Barceló_Tous and #Pedro_Barceló from here. The family are from Felanitx, Mallorca.

    Barceló Tous is the much more low-key of the two, and there is little public information about him. Largely based in the Dominican Republic, he takes care of the Central & Latin American segment of the business.

    His cousin, Pedro Barceló, runs the European and North American division. Son of Group co-founder #Gabriel_Barceló_Oliver, Pedro Barceló is a law graduate who has been described as ‘reserved’ and ‘elusive’. He is the company’s executive president. Yet despite his apparent shyness, he was once the youngest senator in Spanish history, entering the upper house at age 23 as a representative for the conservative party with links to the Francoist past, #Partido_Popular. For a period he was also a member of the board of directors of Globalia, Aena and #First_Choice_Holidays.

    The CEO of Evelop is #Antonio_Mota_Sandoval, formerly the company’s technical and maintenance director. He’s very found of #drones and is CEO and founder of a company called #Aerosolutions. The latter describes itself as ‘Engineering, Consulting and Training Services for conventional and unmanned aviation.’ Mota appears to live in Alcalá de Henares, a town just outside Madrid. He is on Twitter and Facebook.

    The Barceló Foundation

    As is so often the case with large businesses engaging in unethical practises, the family set up a charitable arm, the #Barceló_Foundation. It manages a pot of €32 million, of which it spent €2m in 2019 on a broad range of charitable activities in Africa, South America and Mallorca. Headed by Antonio Monjo Tomás, it’s run from a prestigious building in Palma known as #Casa_del_Marqués_de_Reguer-Rullán, owned by the Barceló family. The foundation also runs the #Felanitx_Art & Culture Center, reportedly based at the Barceló’s family home. The foundation partners with many Catholic missions and sponsors the #Capella_Mallorquina, a local choir. The foundation is on Twitter and Facebook.

    The Barceló Group’s vulnerabilities

    Like other tourism businesses, the group is struggling with the industry-wide downturn due to COVID-19 travel measures. In this context, government contracts provide a rare reliable source of steady income — and the Barcelós will be loathe to give up deportation work. In Spain, perhaps even more than elsewhere, the tourism industry and its leading dynasties has very close ties with government and politicians. Airlines are getting heavy bailouts from the Spanish state, and their bosses will want to keep up good relations.

    But the deportation business could become less attractive for the group if campaigners keep up the pressure — particularly outside Spain, where reputational damage may outweigh the profits from occasional flights. Having carried out a charter deportation to Jamaica from the UK earlier in the year, the company became a target of a social media campaign in December 2020 ahead of the Jamaica 50 flight, after which they reportedly said that they were not involved. A lesser-known Spanish airline, Privilege Style, did the job instead.

    https://corporatewatch.org/evelop-barcelo-group-deportation-planes-from-spain
    #Espagne #business #compagnies_aériennes #complexe_militaro-industriel #renvois #expulsions #migrations #réfugiés #asile #tourisme #charter #Maurtianie #îles_Canaries #Canaries #Géorgie #Albanie #Colombie #République_dominicaine #Ghana #Nigeria #Allemagne #Standsted #UK #Angleterre #Pakistan #Bangladesh #Air_Maroc #Air_Senegal #Iberia #Maroc #Algérie #ferrys #Sahara_occidental #covid-19 #pandémie #coronavirus #hôtels #fondation #philanthrocapitalisme

    ping @isskein @karine4

  • Interior reactiva las expulsiones desde Canarias y deporta a 22 migrantes a Mauritania

    El Ministerio del Interior ha reactivado este miércoles las deportaciones de migrantes desde Canarias y ha expulsado a 22 las personas que estaban en el Centro de Internamiento de Extranjeros (CIE) de Barranco Seco hacia Mauritania. De ellas, 18 son de Senegal, dos de Gambia, uno de Guinea-Bissau y uno de Mauritania. En este momento, el CIE de Gran Canaria está vacío, y podrá albergar hasta a 42 personas a partir de hoy, ya que el juez de control, Arcadio Díaz-Tejera, en un auto estableció que este era el aforo máximo para evitar el hacinamiento y los posibles contagios en cadena, como sucedió en marzo. Entonces, el magistrado tuvo que ordenar el desalojo y el cierre, ya que trabajadores del centro contagiaron a los internos. Además, el cierre de fronteras decretado para frenar la expansión de la COVID-19 tampoco permitía las expulsiones. La reapertura se ordenó en septiembre, tras la visita del ministro Fernando Grande-Marlaska a Nouakchott.

    El ministro viajó en compañía de la comisaria europea Ylva Johansson para abordar la crisis migratoria que atraviesa el Archipiélago en la actualidad. Uno de los resultados de este encuentro fue la recuperación de las deportaciones hacia Mauritania, aprovechando el acuerdo bilateral que ambos países mantienen. Este documento recoge la expulsión a este país africano tanto de nacionales de este país como de países terceros que en su trayecto migratorio hayan partido del territorio mauritano.

    Aprovechando este epígrafe del convenio, España expulsó a finales de 2019 y comienzos de 2020 incluso a malienses. Algunos de ellos habían solicitado protección internacional ante el conflicto armado que atraviesa su país. Según Acnur, ninguna persona procedente de las regiones afectadas por esta guerra debería ser devuelta de manera forzosa, puesto que el resto del país no debe ser considerado como una alternativa adecuada al asilo hasta el momento en que la situación de seguridad, el estado de derecho y los derechos humanos hayan mejorado significativamente. Así, Acnur insta a los Estados a proporcionar acceso al territorio y a los procedimientos de asilo a las personas que huyen del conflicto en Malí.

    Grande-Marlaska y Johansson también visitaron este fin de semana Canarias, incluido el saturado muelle de Arguineguín que alberga hasta el momento a más de 2.000 personas. El viaje fue criticado por Podemos Canarias, que lo tildó de «hipócrita y decepcionante» por haberse limitado a «poco más que a hacerse una foto y unas declaraciones que son las mismas que se repiten desde hace meses».

    El ministro evidenció en su visita que su apuesta para controlar los flujos migratorios era reforzar la vigilancia y cooperar con los países de origen, poniendo el foco en la lucha contra las mafias de tráfico de personas. Marlaska aseguró que España reforzó tanto a sus Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad del Estado como a las autoridades de Mauritania. «Un avión de la Guardia Civil ha sido enviado a Nouakchott para realizar labores de prevención y facilitar los rescates en origen y así evitar más muertes»

    Como parte de la estrategia de su departamento, ha solicitado apoyo al Frontex, que ha enviado a siete agentes a Gran Canaria para identificar migrantes y «controlar la inmigración irregular». Con este fin, el ministro ha visitado Argelia, Túnez y Mauritania, y se desplazará a Marruecos el próximo 20 de noviembre. Esta estrategia ya fue empleada en 2006 con fines disuasorios hacia las personas que pretendían partir en cayucos o pateras hacia Canarias. El operativo HERA consistió en el despliegue de personal especializado en la zona, medios marítimos y aéreos que patrullaban el litoral africano, además de sistemas de satélite para controlar el Atlántico. Este equipo no lo aportó Frontex, sino los países miembros de la UE y la agencia reembolsa los costes del despliegue, tantos de los guardias de fronteras como del transporte, combustible y mantenimiento del equipo. La Agencia europea invirtió 3,2 millones de euros de los cuatro que costó la operación en el Atlántico.

    El objetivo se cumplió, ya que de las 31.678 personas que sobrevivieron a la ruta migratoria canaria ese año, se pasó a 12.478 en 2007, 9.181 en 2008, 2.246 en 2009 y a 196 en 2010.

    https://www.eldiario.es/canariasahora/migraciones/interior-reactiva-expulsiones-canarias-deporta-22-migrantes-mauritania_1_63

    –-> 22 personnes expulsées des Canaries vers la Mauritanie. Une personne mauritanienne parmi elles, les autres viennent du Sénégal, de Gambie et de Guinée Bissau. Selon l’article, la reprise des expulsions a été décidée en septembre après la visite du ministre de l’intérieur.

    –—

    A mettre en lien avec la « réactivation des routes migratoires à travers la #Méditerranée_occidentale » :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/885310

    #Canaries #îles_Canaries #Mauritanie #expulsions #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Espagne #evelop #externalisation

    ping @_kg_ @rhoumour @isskein @karine4

    • Marruecos aumenta las deportaciones de migrantes desde el Sáhara Occidental, punto de partida clave hacia Canarias

      Hablamos con varios de los migrantes deportados por Marruecos en los últimos meses tras un pausa durante el confinamiento.

      Aminata Camara, de 25 años, es una de las 86 personas migrantes guineanas expulsadas por Marruecos el pasado 28 de septiembre desde la ciudad de Dajla. El reino marroquí retomó entonces las deportaciones de migrantes desde el Sáhara Occidental, punto de partida clave de pateras hacia Canarias. «Nos llevaron al aeropuerto, no nos tomaron las huellas, no nos pidieron nada ni los datos. Nos dieron los billetes del vuelo, sin equipaje», contaba la mujer guineana a elDiario.es mientras acababa de embarcar en el avión.

      De fondo se escuchaba el revuelo, los gritos de un grupo de mujeres, mientras ella se atropellaba al denunciar nerviosa que los militares la habían metido en un avión en Dhkala junto a otros 80 compatriotas (28 mujeres), y que los expulsaban a su país. «Los militares que nos acompañaron en el viaje nos abandonaron en el avión. Un bus nos llevó a la parte nacional del aeropuerto de Conakri y nos dejaron allí sin más, a pesar del coronavirus. Tuvimos que coger taxis para llegar a nuestras casas», denunciaba ya en su país.

      Desde entonces, han salido al menos tres aviones más con personas migrantes desde Dajla a Guinea Conakry, Senegal y Mali. El último vuelo de deportación se organizó el pasado 11 de noviembre, con alrededor de un centenar de personas que la Marina Real marroquí había interceptado en la costa atlántica intentando salir hacia las Islas Canarias. Los metieron en dos autocares en la ciudad saharaui para enviarlos en avión a Dakar. Allí, fuentes del aeropuerto, corroboran a este medio que el miércoles llegó un grupo de senegaleses.

      En el momento en que se ejecutaba la expulsión de los ciudadanos malienses el pasado 2 de octubre, elDiario.es contactó telefónicamente con Traore, el presidente de la comunidad maliense en Marruecos. «Hemos sido detenidos ilegalmente, nos cogieron en las casas y nos encerraron tres semanas en un centro de detención en El Aaiún. Hoy nos llevan al aeropuerto de Dajla para deportarnos a Mali. Somos algo más de 80 personas. Y las autoridades malienses han firmado una deportación voluntaria, mientras que nos están forzado a dejar el país sin ningún papel».

      Desde Dajla, François, que se salvó de la expulsión, asegura a este medio: «A los subsaharianos nos cogen diciendo que tenemos el coronavirus para meternos en cuarentena. Los test de PCR en los trabajos son obligatorias para los subsaharianos. Y a 115 senegaleses, 95 guineanos y 80 malienses los deportaron a sus países».

      Entre los expulsados había migrantes que residían desde hace tiempo en El Aaiún y Dajla, ciudades saharauis desde donde se registran la mayoría de las salidas en embarcaciones a Canarias, la ruta migratoria más transitada actualmente en España. Hasta el 15 de noviembre, llegaron 16.760 personas en 553 embarcaciones, según los datos del Ministerio del Interior. En plena crisis migratoria en las islas, Marlaska viaja este viernes a Marruecos con el objetivo de reforzar la cooperación en materia fronteriza y evitar la salida de pateras hacia las islas.

      Por su parte, una fuente oficial de migración desde Rabat confirma a elDiario.es los cuatro aviones de expulsión, pero con 120 personas de Mali, entre los que se encontraban cinco guineanos; 28 mujeres deportadas a Guinea Conakry y 144 senegaleses rescatados en el mar. A los que hay añadir los últimos 100 enviados a Senegal la semana pasada. «Algunos son migrantes expulsados inicialmente de Tánger, Nador, Rabat, Casablanca y Alhucemas hacia la frontera de Marruecos con Argelia en Tiouli, región de Jerada, a unos 60 kilómetros de Oujda», precisa la misma fuente. Las devoluciones se hicieron con tres de los cuatro países –el otro es Costa de Marfil– con los que Marruecos estableció un acuerdo para acceder al país sin visado.
      «Había un bebé de tres meses con nosotros»

      Aminara pasó tres semanas encerrada junto al resto de personas de origen subsahariano antes de ser expulsadas desde el Sáhara Occidental. «Había un bebé de tres meses con nosotros, otro de dos meses con su madre, dos niños de 5 y 8, una niña de 9 años», recuerda ya desde una localidad cercana a Boffa, en la región de Boké (Guinea Conakry).

      «La Gendarmería vino a la casa por la noche. Estábamos dormidos. Llamaron a la puerta y nos pidieron que abriésemos, cuando lo hicimos, nos hicieron salir y montar en los vehículos, nos llevaron a prisión y nos encerraron tres semanas.
      »¿Qué hemos hecho?", preguntaron. «Nada, tenéis que salir» respondieron los militares.

      Después la encerraron tres semanas en un centro de detención improvisado. «Nos maltrataron, nos trataban como esclavos. Pegaron a una amiga allí, y le rompieron el pie. Cuando alguien caía enfermo, lo abandonaban fuera, y nadie te miraba, ni siquiera te llevaban al hospital. Solo comíamos pan y sardinas, ni agua nos daban. Enfermó mucha gente, yo misma me puse mala. Fue un calvario», enumera apresuradamente por teléfono.

      Durante el encierro les hicieron dos veces los test PCR para detectar el coronavirus. Y después de que las autoridades firmasen junto a los representantes de los consulados su expulsión, los metieron en aviones a sus países de origen. «Nos maltrataron, nos encerraron, nos pegaron, nos hicieron todo lo malo, lo prometo», dice en un susurro.
      «Han violado nuestros derechos y queremos verdaderamente justicia»

      Precisamente, la Asociación Marroquí de Derechos Humanos (AMDH) de Nador ha denunciado detenciones forzosas desde que comenzó el confinamiento en el mes de marzo. «Estas condiciones inhumanas de confinamiento son una práctica voluntaria de las autoridades marroquíes para instar a los migrantes secuestrados a que revelen sus datos personales para posteriormente identificarlos y deportarlos contra su voluntad», mantiene la AMDH.

      Finalmente, Amina está en Guinea: «No es fácil. No tengo apoyo ni nadie que me pueda ayudar. Cuando llegamos, contactamos con Naciones Unidas. Nos dijeron que nos iban ayudar, pero después no nos han llamado, también nos ha abandonado. Nadie nos ha escuchado».

      Esta joven viajó a Marruecos para mejorar el nivel de vida. En su país, creció en la calle después de perder a sus padres. Habló con un amigo magrebí y emprendió la ruta de Argelia, pasando por Mali y entrando finalmente a Marruecos. El objetivo era trabajar, «jamás osé a cruzar a España. Lo encuentro muy peligroso. Cada día muere gente en el agua. Nunca intenté eso», confiesa.

      «Los dos años en Marruecos no había nada que hacer. Tampoco fue fácil», rememora desde Guinea. Compartía una habitación con ocho personas y trabajaba en una empresa de pescado en Dkhala, pero «los militares me pegaron y perdí mi bebé. Tuve un aborto». Tras esta desgracia, se trasladó a una residencia particular en El Aaiún «donde trabajaba día y noche por 150 euros al mes, que me llegaba para pagar el alojamiento y la comida».
      AMDH denuncia las «deportaciones forzosas» que el gobierno disfraza de «voluntarias»

      El gobierno disfraza estos vuelos con datos de «retorno voluntario» porque los están gestionando al margen de los organismos internacionales. La AMDH de Nador denunció en las redes sociales: «La deportación forzosa de migrantes subsaharianos por las autoridades marroquíes continúa desde Dajla».

      «Desalojos inhumanos que no podían hacerse sin la complicidad de las embajadas en Rabat y sin el dinero de la Unión Europea (UE)», apunta la AMDH. Incide además en sus publicaciones en Facebook en que «son expulsados con la complicidad de su embajada y con el dinero de la UE y la Organización Internacional de Migraciones (OIM)».
      «Retornos a la fuerza, y no voluntarios»

      Desde el organismo confirman que se trataba de «retornos a la fuerza, y no voluntarios». Las ONG denuncian «corrupción» porque los cónsules firmaron un retorno voluntario con Marruecos basándose en acuerdos entre los países que además se han instalado recientemente en el Sáhara Occidental, como es el caso de Guinea Conakry, Senegal y Mali.

      Moussa Coulibaly (31 años) habla con elDiario.es desde Mali. Llevaba cuatros años y medio en Marruecos, pero el 2 de octubre por la tarde fue deportado, junto a otras 83 personas malienses. «Fue el consulado el que firmó que nos trajeran al país. Nuestros gobiernos son malos. Realmente sufrimos. Las autoridades han deportado a la mayoría», delata.

      Marruecos ha retomado las deportaciones tras el confinamiento. «Desde principios de julio hasta septiembre de 2020, alrededor de 157 personas han sido expulsadas de Marruecos entre las que había 9 mujeres, 11 menores y 7 personas heridas», detallaban desde Rabat a principios de octubre.

      La AMDH ya denunció en su informe de 2019, que cerca de 600 migrantes habían sido expulsados en autocares desde un centro de internamiento de Nador al aeropuerto de Casablanca en 35 operaciones de deportación durante el año. Entonces ya desveló que los seis países que cooperan con Marruecos para deportar a sus nacionales son Camerún, Costa de Marfil, Guinea, Senegal, Mali y Burkina Faso.

      Precisamente la Organización Democrática del Trabajo (ODT) acusa al gobierno magrebí de descuidar a las personas migrantes desde que apareció la Covid–19. Denuncia en un comunicado que «el sufrimiento de los migrantes africanos en Marruecos solo se ha intensificado y exacerbado durante el período de la pandemia».

      https://www.eldiario.es/desalambre/marruecos-aumenta-deportaciones-migrantes-subsaharianos-dajla-principales-p

      #Sahara_occidental #Maroc #Dajla #Dhkala #Sénégal #Mali #Guinée-Conakry #Guinée