SITA agrees to acquire Collins Aerospace Airport Solutions

SITA agrees to acquire Collins Aerospace Airport Solutions

15 October 2026: SITA, the air transport technology provider based in Geneva, has agreed to acquire the business known as Collins Aerospace Airport Solutions, which supplies the systems airports use to process passengers and bags. The deal is expected to complete during the first half of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions that include regulatory approvals. SITA has not disclosed a price.

The business changing hands

The target's products cover the points where a traveller meets airport technology. SITA describes them as passenger processing, baggage handling and airport operations technology, among them check-in, self-service touchpoints and bag drop, plus mission-critical systems that run day-to-day operations on the airfield side of a terminal. SITA's announcement does not name the parent company that currently owns the unit, and it gives no figures for headcount, revenue or the number of airports served.

What SITA says it is buying

David Lavorel, chief executive of SITA, framed the purchase as an extension of what the company sells: "This acquisition extends SITA's offerings and capabilities, reinforcing our commitment and role as the trusted technology partner our customers rely on."

Nathalie Altwegg, SVP Airports at SITA, put the customer view in one line: "Ask an airport what it wants from a technology provider, and the answer is a trusted partner."

Lavorel added that air transport is growing and that expectations are growing with it. The combined business, he said, will strengthen support for all customers and contribute to improved passenger, baggage and wider airport operations.

Baggage as the backdrop

The same SITA site carries its Baggage IT Insights 2026 report, which gives some context for why baggage systems sit at the centre of the combination. SITA's pages say mishandled baggage still costs the industry 6.3 billion dollars a year, even though the mishandling rate fell by 23 percent in 2025. Those figures belong to that report and not to the acquisition announcement, which does not link the two.

Timing and approvals

Nothing in the announcement says which regulators will review the transaction, and no seller statement accompanied it. The first half of 2027 is the only timetable on offer. Until completion the two businesses operate separately, so airports using either company's check-in or bag drop equipment should expect their current contracts and support arrangements to stay as they are.

The Geneva dateline on SITA's page, 15 October 2026, is the date the agreement was announced. The release says the combined business is meant to strengthen support for all customers.

What is not yet known

The announcement does not say whether the Airport Solutions brands will be kept, whether its products will be merged with SITA's own platforms or how many airports use the systems being transferred. It names no customers and no regulators. Price, staff numbers and customer numbers are all absent.

Sources

• SITA: SITA agrees to acquire Collins Aerospace Airport Solutions, 15 October 2026