240

ISSUE 240

SEPTEMBER 2013

Moscow PTC first to operate P-750 in Russia

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Medair moves into Malta while Learjet 55s thrive in Africa

Medair’s two recently delivered Learjet 55s are very well suited to performing medical missions in Africa, says Steve Anderson, ceo of Medair and Elite Jet, pictured here in the cockpit of his favourite aircraft, a 1976 Lockheed Jetstar II. For the full story on the Learjet acquisition, plus news on Medair’s new premises in Malta, turn to page 4.

Moscow’s Parachute Training Centre is to take delivery this month of a P-750 XSTOL turboprop, produced by Pacific Aerospace. The aircraft is the 85th of its type produced by PAL but the operator says it will be the first P-750 in Russia, as it has now gained type acceptance and is ready for service. PAL’s Russian agent expects to deliver 37 of these aircraft over the next five years.

“Russia is an exciting market for us,” says Damian Camp, ceo of PAL. “Capturing just a small fraction of the replacement market for the 17,000 pre-WWII Antonov AN2 biplanes produced in Russia would be a big deal for us.

“We’d love to be doing this on the back of a Russia-NZ free trade agreement but I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer for that.”

The aircraft can accommodate up to 10 passengers and is renowned for its short take-off and landing capability with its single engine. It already operates in testing conditions in places such as Nepal, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Africa where reliability, low cost of operation and superior payload are crucial.

Baggage space is at a premium but Bell 407 is an able performer for Superior Air See pages 12-15

FRENCH REGIONAL REVIEW Pages 9-11

Greek operator Superior Air has been very pleased with its 1998 Bell 407, which it recently re-registered from Germany. The company is putting the helicopter to use on a long-term lease arrangement, having operated two other Bell 407s on lease contracts last year. Maintenance manager Kostas Apostolopoulos says the aircraft has been a solid investment: “The choice of a Bell 407 was based on the costeffectiveness of the helicopter, and power. In the past we usually did flights with Robinsons so it is a very big difference and it’s a whole different category – you cannot compare it to those helicopters. This Bell 407 has better flying characteristics and is better all-round than the Eurocopter EC120 Colibri we also have in our fleet.

“But the Bell has a really small baggage area which causes a lot of problems. It has less range because it burns more fuel than the Colibri. We

The Bell 407 represents a significant step up from the Robinson aircraft Superior Air used previously.

have found that by separating the missions we can use both of them. If the baggage compartment of the 407 was better, if it was bigger – we also have an auxiliary fuel tank in the baggage – then I couldn’t fault it. It is the only negative part of the helicopter.

“We have been operating 407s for three years now, and even though we’ve had mechanical and other technical problems with the helicopter, all of that

was normal wear and tear stuff, which happens. We had no problems other than our only headache, the baggage.

“This year we have one 407 in the fleet. The last two years we had two. We also maintain the Bell 407s of another two customers, so we’re experienced with this model.”

The main operation of the 407 is vip transfer, and there is also an EMS kit on board. Superior Air is at times required to carry people that need to go to hospital from the Greek islands.

Apostolopoulos says that the aircraft does not compromise on performance, even when heavily-laden: “The best thing about this helicopter is that it is very powerful – you can load it up and take off without any problems. It is really powerful and it’s fast. It’s also very pretty for the customer and the cabin has a nice configuration. It’s trouble free, that’s the positive feature of it.”

The Eurocopter, which was added to

Superior Air’s AOC in May of this year, allows the company to run a diverse array of missions: “The EC120 is a bit smaller and carries less than the Bell, fewer people. But it is turbine also, so it covers a good section of the market.

The Bell is a bit more expensive to rent, while the Eurocopter is between the Robinson and the Bell, in price and in operational capabilities.”

Superior Air is now harbouring twin engine aspirations explains Apostolopoulos: “I would say that our company needs a twin engine helicopter now. With twin engines there is not much profit due to high operational costs, but it’s a market to which we cannot provide services right now. Twin engine is not really more safe than the single engine, but it gives a feeling of additional safety due to the second engine. It is a big portion of the market so at some point we are going to need to expand to that also.”

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2 SEPTEMBER 2013

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

Restructured PremiAir debuts new team at Helitech

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PremiAir Aviation International is under new ownership, with a strengthened management team that it will showcase at Helitech International. PremiAir is due to appear at the largest dedicated helicopter exhibition in Europe as a sponsor and exhibitor.

Owner and chairman Graham Avery, who acquired PremiAir late last year, has spent the past six months reshaping the brand and as a result the business is now debt free and will focus on one operational base at Blackbushe Airport in Surrey.

It has its own AOC along with a team of 60 engineers, technicians, design specialists, admin and sales executives, all working to rebuild the business.

Avery has also acquired an E-learning training organisation for airline pilots, with bases in London (Gatwick), Dubai, Houston, New York, Seattle and Singapore. He has integrated this into PremiAir to create PALS (PremiAir Aviation Learning Systems), a comprehensive library of aviation computer-based training and vocational content delivered by a team of airline professionals. “Helitech, at the new, enlarged London venue, is the perfect showcase to meet with industry and demonstrate that PremiAir is firmly back and ready for business� states Avery. “My goal is to bring the company back to its former glory.� The chairman was one of the early pioneers of managed helicopter operations when his three owned aircraft helped launch a charter firm, and he has also been involved in the successful development of several aviation firms over the past decade.

Among appointments he has made is Craig Chislett as director of marketing. Chislett is a former RAF officer who has

accrued considerable branding and marketing experience in his time with the DTI. He was ceo of the British Luxury Council and chairman of the British Jewellery and Giftware Federation Export Board. Another recruit is Alan Howard, who joins the team as finance director.

Christopher Forrest is retained as operations director and accountable manager.

He is a professional helicopter pilot with more than 6,500 flight hours and has worked for PremiAir and its predecessor McAlpine Aviation Services for nearly three decades. He serves on the committees of the UK CAA, the European Helicopter Association, and is also a member of the EASA Ops 001 review group. He is currently leading a new initiative to create formal status for its Blackbushe site as the new west London heliport, offering full FBO facilities including line maintenance support, fuel and hangarage. PremiAir will host a press briefing during Helitech to give more details.

The company says its Blackbushe facility has traditionally been one of the

world’s largest and most capable helicopter maintenance and engineering centres: at one point it supported a fleet of nearly 30 aircraft.

Accordingly, it is keen to reestablish a strong engineering business.

During the restructure, PremiAir Aviation Services acquired a new EASA Part 145 authorisation, enabling line and base maintenance for helicopter types including Bell, Sikorsky and Eurocopter to be undertaken. Part M approval is retained and it has also received EASA Part 21J approval for design and modification work on all aircraft. To this end PremiAir is actively recruiting more licensed engineers. It is also continuing with its pilot training and pilot provision for police air support units.

Another development is that the company intends to build up a managed fleet of twin turbine IFR helicopters, which it will both maintain and offer for third party charter. It is in the market to acquire pre-owned machines and is looking forward to renewing contacts with the OEMs at Helitech.

PremiAir chairman Graham Avery is looking forward to working with his newly restructured team.

NPAS looks to standardise fleet by reducing weight of mixed EC135Ts The UK National Police Air Service (NPAS) is looking to upgrade seven EC135T helicopters, the aim being for these machines to be standardised in terms of equipment and weight. Senior category manager for NPAS Charlotte Daynes says: “We have just had a supplier conference with regard to this tender which we have out at the moment. It is for the upgrade of seven aircraft, with all the missionspecific police equipment within that. The conference was for suppliers to come and get a bit more of an idea of what we were after, an open forum and also a chance to look around an aircraft that is due to be upgraded. “We are wanting to reduce weight as much as we can to make the endurance better so it can stay in the air longer. Also a lot of the equipment used is coming to the end of its life and becoming obsolete. The idea is to refresh that but also to get some sort of standardisation on the kit, because this is a national air service now and the aircraft are going to be here, there and everywhere – they are not going to be sticking to the same base. “The cost is estimated at between ÂŁ3m and ÂŁ7m depending on our budget on particular years. We’ve got the budget for the first three aircraft and then for the next two financial

years after this one, doing two aircraft each financial year,� Daynes explains.

The issue concerning the variety of equipment level specifications within the fleet is said to be long-standing. Various research projects have been instigated to address drawbacks, including the different levels of maintenance and the variety of downlinks, both analogue and digital.

Every aircraft was designed and built for a different customer and as a result weight differences are significant, and problematic for pilots. The older airframes are Turbomeca powered on high skids, whereas later deliveries are PWC powered and on low skids.

Each has a range of role equipment specifications. NPAS is inviting potential suppliers to bid for the provision of an extensive mission system upgrade for a number of the earlier EC135T2 helicopters in the fleet, with the intention to replace most of the current police mission management system and sensors.

The existing police mission pod or ‘Macpod’ is still fitted to a handful of aircraft and is due for an upgrade as well. A new installation, similar to that of the more recent airframes, is to be drawn up.

SEPTEMBER 2013 3

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

ABS Jets earns recognition with NBAA safety awards ABS Jets, which has operational bases in Prague and Bratislava, has earned two NBAA safety awards: the Commercial Business Flying Safety Award and the Aviation Support Services Safety Award. The first award was based on ABS Jets operating business aircraft for nine years and for a total of 21,177 consecutive hours without an accident involving damage to property or injury to persons. Michal Pazourek, chief of its operations control centre, also earned the Aviation Support Services Safety Award for contributing to the safety of business aircraft operations for three or more years without an accident involving damage to property or injury to persons.

“I’m honoured that my work has been recognised and awarded,” Pazourek says. “Earning a safety award in such a high risk industry means a lot. This success belongs to our entire team; we work together, and we perform and deliver as a team here at ABS.” Meanwhile, the operator recently supported and helped fund four Czech students who undertook a trip to Morocco as part of their training. Two of the students are pilots, and they wish to motivate other young pilots or those who dream to one day enter the profession. The project was a year in the planning, with the initial idea being to fly from northern Germany to Gibraltar. But the students became intrigued by their close proximity to the African continent and ultimately named their expedition the Morocco Tour 2013.

“The reason we supported this project was quite simple. We all remember how it was when we started our careers as pilots, we all remember how we started our practices and exercises from aviation and flying,” explains ABS Jets ceo Vladimir Petak. “When I saw these guys and the way they had prepared, we said in our company that we can and we should support this project because I remember in my case it was really, really difficult to find help.

“I had the same plan when I started, of flying and having an aviation career and at the time it was really difficult to find any company that could support this action and pay invoices or give support to your flight and help you with costs such as fuel. I wasn’t able to do this so now,

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ABS Jets’ student project crew in Biscarrosse, from left to right: Jaroslav Gorej, Martin Meloun, Radim Bradac, Stefan Gorej.

why not support these guys when we have space in our marketing budget?

“We specialise in action flights like this and I hope they can stay professional pilots and maybe we can cooperate in the future.”

Petak goes on to explain the type of support that was on offer: “We mainly supported them in a financial way. We also helped plan their flight, because ABS Jets is very adept at flight planning activities. We undertake these activities for other countries too, because we have a lot of customers in this department from south and north America and Asia.

We have a lot of experience of flying to Africa too. In this case there was nothing really tricky or difficult for ABS Jets. I hope it was really helpful for these guys.”

Pilot and team spokesman Martin Maloun is very grateful for the role

Rotana Jet to base aircraft at Al Bateen Rotana Jet will be basing an A319 Airbus at Al Bateen executive airport.

The aircraft will be available for private charter and will be added to the existing Rotana fleet at Al Bateen, which currently comprises two Embraer 145 and a Gulfstream G450.

The A319 will have 32 business class seats and 18 economy class.

Yousif Al Hammadi, general

manager of Al Bateen executive airport, comments: “Rotana Jet’s commitment to base its A319 at Al Bateen demonstrates the airport’s position as a key business aviation hub for the region, and as a preferred base for charter aircraft operators. We look forward to additional private aircraft partners making it their hub in the Middle East.”

played by ABS: “None of these undertakings could have been realised without the support of great partners and I would like to especially thank ABS Jets for their generous support. If we had any questions or problems far away, we could always, 24/7, count on the assistance of the ABS flight operations and services staff in Prague. You have no idea how comforting it is to have such a reliable partner.”

Maloun was joined on the trip by co-pilot Radim Bradac, as well as photographer/reporter Stefan Gorej and photographer Jaroslav Gorej, who jointly took over 4,500 photographs. The team flew in a Cessna C-172RG and embarked on an 18-day mission through the airspace of eight countries with 42 flight hours in total.

The trip was smooth on the whole,

although when the crew landed at Er Rachidia airport on the edge of the Sahara in east Morocco, there was no Avgas fuel available. Due to delays a planned landing in Barcelona also had to be rerouted to Ibiza. The crew, however, remained calm under pressure and managed to keep a healthy balance by taking the odd break in cities in order to refresh.

Petak now hopes that ABS can support similar projects in the future: “Of course we hope to do this. But it will depend on our current situation and on our budget. In this case it was very important how they presented these flights, and we realised from the beginning that they were very professional and were thinking about it really sensibly. They recognised that it wasn’t a joke.

“We were very impressed with the way they acted,” he concludes.

The opinions expressed by authors and contributors to European Business Air News are not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. Articles appearing in European Business Air News may not be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the publisher. European Business Air News is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork.

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4 SEPTEMBER 2013

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

Learjet 55s tick all the boxes for Medair as it opens Malta office Johannesburg-based Medair has purchased two Learjet 55 from Germany, to fulfil an air ambulance role in southern and central Africa.

The 55 offers the operator increased space and practicality against the Learjet 35 range, of which it has had previous experience. Ceo Steve Anderson, pictured front cover, explains the need to upgrade: “The 35s are starting to get a bit long in the tooth now and in the air ambulance business reliability is crucial. You also have to remember that the African air ambulance environment is very different to European air ambulance or north American operations where the patient has had a good standard of medical intervention prior to collection. We have to treat every flight as though the patient has just been removed from a road accident.

“American and EU operations are almost always inter-hospital transfers so when you are getting your patient, he has been into hospital, he has had intervention, he’s been stabilised, and cleaned up. We tend to have to carry a lot more equipment than the 35s would carry and that just means we need a lot more space, which is good in the 55. In the 35 you had to fold the seats down to get to the baggage area, which wasn’t even that large.”

Anderson adds: “We are now doing a lot longer flights with direct

turnaround. Often we go to pick up a patient who, on arrival, is found to be so critical that we cannot sleep over and bring him back the next day, so we have to turn around immediately.

For that we needed a larger cabin with space for extra crew to stretch out and sleep on the way up and a proper toilet to allow them to keep blood sugar and hydration under control. If you don’t have decent toilet facilities your flight crew don’t tend to eat and drink properly which dehydrates them and their fatigue levels get out of hand.

“All those points, as well as the ability to at least stand up and stretch in flight was of importance to us and

“Often we go to pick up a patient who is found to be so critical that we cannot sleep over” so we decided to try the 55 as a treat bed for a planned switch to the Learjet 60. If we are happy with them from a cabin size and range point of view, we’ll switch to Learjet 60s in about two years time.”

Anderson reveals that the 55s are financially viable: “We are familiar with the 35s but with the way the

market is going now, the 55s are in reach of the costings required to operate an air ambulance, so we thought we’d go a step up and get a larger aircraft.”

Fast refuelling is another benefit of the latest acquisitions: “With a lot of our flights we have to stop and refuel, and a 35 takes about an hour to an hour and ten minutes to refuel in Afric, whereas you can do this in 10 minutes in the 55. It reduces fatigue and is a faster turnaround for our crews and the patient.”

The company does run charter missions under the Elite Jet banner, in addition to its air ambulance remit, but the Learjet 55s are specifically kitted out for EMS and their function is dedicated to this. Nonetheless Anderson has sought to expand the charter arm of the business, and cites the recruitment of Greg Ermes in Elite Jet’s marketing department as a crucial decision: “We have basically decided to see what we could do with charter in the last two years. And for that reason we hired Greg, who is not an aviation man at all but he’s a salesman with real experience in the cellphone market.

“Funnily enough this has been extremely successful for us. Normally you tend to take marketing guys out of your industry, and they seem to go around in circles with the same old people they always talk to. Bringing in

a fresh approach made a huge change to our charter business. We’ve seen a 50 per cent year on year growth and the last 12 months really have been successful. We weren’t growing off a large base because we are primarily seen as an air ambulance company, but it just shows that for somebody with a fresh idea and a fresh approach, there is business out there.

Elite Jet is enjoying the year on year growth, but Anderson feels that sooner or later it will plateau: “It will have to level out at a certain point.

But I think there are a whole lot of areas we haven’t tapped into yet, in terms of availability to the US and the EU market which demands that the aircraft be on your license and not sub-chartered.

Anderson believes that the biggest constraint, certainly in southern Africa, is going to be the age of the aircraft. “Our fleet is ageing quite fast, and there are mainly older aircraft here due to the financing model that is available in this country, so that’s what our growth constraint is going to be.

“The Americans and the Europeans don’t like to fly aircraft older than 15 or 20 years, preferably younger. Most of our aircraft are already older than that by a long chalk, but we lavish care on them as they are our primary earners, and of course, we fly them ourselves, so we

are in front on virtually every flight.

We are actively trying to recruit younger aircraft at the moment,” he concludes.

“If you don’t have toilet facilities your crew don’t eat and drink properly which dehydrates them” In light of its desire to branch into the European market, the start of October will see Medair open Medair Malta, in what it believes will be the first dedicated air ambulance operation on the island. Anderson says the company plans to provide a high quality service to European operators who cannot get down to west Africa and back inside of flight and duty times: “From our base we can do the return leg and meet the European operator in Malta. We can therefore depart within three hours and the EU operator can meet us anywhere to pick up and continue on to the EU. We will also have a dedicated medical team under the guidance of Andrew Lee, a well respected name in the air ambulance industry. We will be basing one 55 and a Citation SII in Malta, starting with the Learjet 55, with the Citation to follow a few weeks later.”

UTair brings AW139 fleet up to full strength and plans service centre Russian operator UTair reports that it is pleased with its fleet of AW139s, with ten aircraft currently in service to perform passenger, corporate and vvip transport missions. Aircraft are deployed and operated from bases in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi and from additional bases in Siberia.

“Putting into operation 10 helicopters of a new type in a short time required a lot of work to prepare the flight crews and operating personnel, infrastructure and maintenance facilities,” says Faradzhaev Rashid Guseinovich, ceo of UTair-Engineering.

“The success of this work has once again demonstrated the professionalism and capabilities of

UTair as an operator of various types of helicopters.

Additionally, UTair has signed a service centre agreement with AgustaWestland.

Under the agreement the operator will act as an authorised service station, providing a comprehensive range of support and maintenance services as well as an extensive spare parts inventory for AW139 twin engine helicopters in Russia. The programme foresees qualification of approximately 60 pilots and 40 technicians to fly and maintain the AW139. “Establishment of a joint service centre is a positive step, indicating our big plans for operation of AW139 helicopters,” Guseinovich adds.

Enjoying a successful summer, BFC Group ceo Phil Brockwell with a company-owned CitationJet.

Centreline boasts highest figures since 2008 Centreline Air Charter, part of the Bristol Flying Centre (BFC) Group based at Bristol airport, UK, has reported a significant upturn in business for the three months of the 2013 summer period, beating any performance since the recession in 2008. The operator runs five CitationJets from four UK airports, and is reporting a 35 per cent increase in profits and a 15 per cent increase in utilisation of its aircraft, to an average

of 77 hours over the months of June, July and August compared to the same period for the last five years.

BFC Group ceo Phil Brockwell remarks: “This incredibly successful summer period is a result of two main factors. Firstly, there had been a reduction in the supply of light jets in the UK market which has resulted in an increased demand for the Centreline Air Charter product. And we have operated our aircraft at

almost maximum efficiency, the key to this being a successful programme of selling empty legs and extracting maximum value from our assets. We have also increased our average sector length from 1.1 to 1.4 hours.”

He adds: “We are particularly pleased with these results as during this period one of our aircraft spent 20 days in our engineering facility undergoing a complete repaint which took it out of service.”

SEPTEMBER 2013 5

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

DRF’s Learjet 45 completes its first mission A Learjet 45 air ambulance aircraft is now part of the DRF Luftrettung fleet, having taken off last week on its first mission, an emergency repatriation of a patient from Portugal to a German hospital for surgery. After the DRF dispatcher clarified the medical facts, the crew set off for Faro. On arrival, they took charge of the patient and transported her to Munich that night while giving her intensive care on board the Learjet.

To coordinate global operations, the DRF Luftrettung alert centre at the airport of Karlsruhe/BadenBaden is staffed with experienced dispatchers around the clock, 365 days a year. Project manager Herbert Kauth comments: “Our Learjet 45 will most often take off on its missions in a double stretcher configuration, so that we can always transport two patients at the same time. This allows us to combine patient transports despite tight deadlines, for example if

Pilots Frank Borner (left) and Benjamin Kurz (right) in the Learjet 45 cockpit.

a patient in Tenerife and another in Gran Canaria must be picked up and flown to the same country.”

The aircraft was purchased in

South Africa and is easily refuelled through single point filling, which uses a single nozzle to which all tanks are connected.

Titan’s A320 attains Cat3B ready for winter charter Titan Airways says that its recently acquired Airbus A320-233 will be Cat3B approved in time for its first winter of service, based at London Stansted. Landing in low visibility Cat3B weather conditions is made possible by developments in aircraft automatic control systems, together with stringent requirements for airfield equipment and crew qualification. The approval process has been designed to ensure a maximum level of safety and assesses the capabilities of carrier and aircraft, as well as the flight crew. Successful approval allows the A320 to land – at adequately equipped airfields – in visibility reduced to just 75 metres.

“Although, in terms of equipment and training, there is significant cost attached to attaining CATIIIB approval, it will further enhance the

reliability to our customers on which we pride ourselves,” says commercial director of Titan, Alastair Kiernan.

“The additional qualification is especially good news for our winter flight operation, which includes a busy schedule of charter flights operated on behalf of a number of UK-based ski companies.”

Titan’s Airbus A320 joined the carrier’s 12-strong fleet in the spring and has been fulfilling an airline subcharter role on behalf of Jet2.com this summer. For the period of the contract with Jet2.com, the aircraft has been based in Newcastle. The company says it is scheduled to return to its Stansted base in midSeptember, at which point it will be back on the market for ACMI lease, tour operator series flights and ad hoc charter.

Privatair sells BBJ in deal brokered by IBA The International Bureau of Aviation (IBA) has completed the sale and transition of an ex-PrivatAir Boeing Business Jet. IBA was mandated in 2012 to exclusively remarket the aircraft for sale worldwide, and its technical team was also engaged to manage the redelivery back to the owner client.

PrivatAir had leased the aircraft in October 2005 and it was in operation from November 2005 until November 2011. The BBJ was under its care and maintenance from November 2011 until this year, when it left the fleet.

It had carried for KLM on a route from Amsterdam to Houston, however when PrivatAir’s contract with KLM came to an end, the BBJ ceased operations. Marketing and communications director for PrivatAir Tanya Molskaya explains the reasons behind its decision to sell: “There are many challenges in operating such an aircraft successfully, and we think that the deciding factor is the customer demand, which is weak in the EU at the current time.”

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Ben Jacques, who project managed the redelivery and remarketing for IBA, says: “We are very pleased to have been able to complete the sale of this aircraft in challenging market conditions and to deliver it in a tight timeframe to meet the new owner’s operational requirements. The overall process has required considerable commercial effort and technical input from IBA’s in-house team.

“We were delighted to unearth multiple opportunities for placement and to provide support at all stages of our client’s sale process.”

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6 SEPTEMBER 2013

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

Gianair impressed by dispatch reliability of second Jetstream 32 Gianair of Ghana has invested in a second Jetstream 32, having operated this aircraft type since August of last year. The company took delivery of the latest 32 in June and the addition has enhanced its medical evacuation offering, as well as allowing it to expand its contracted gold mine operations.

“We fly gold mine personnel, and we are also trying to get the contract for oil and gas companies,” says md Roberto Billia. “This second aircraft was based in Italy in July, and now it’s based in the Ivory Coast. We have a small contract there.”

Billia remarks that he is very happy with the investment: “We are really surprised with the dispatch rate, it’s very high. With the first Jetstream 32 we flew 1,100 hours without any problems at all, demonstrating that it is a very strong machine with high performance. We are extremely happy with the choice we’ve made.

“It came down to a choice between the Beech 1900 and the Jetstream.

The first [Jetstream] proved to us that it is a workhorse, good to work with.

With the second one we were expecting 80-100 hours a month and the first two months we did 200 hours each month and we didn’t have any problems at all. We have 100 per cent dispatch rate at the moment with this machine.”

The company was registered in 2009 and started out with a Piper Cheyenne 400LS. Billia still regards his organisation as a small one, believing that it is well-served by the 32: “For the kind of operation we are doing ourselves we are mainly flying medical operations in west Africa from Sierra Leone to Ivory Coast or to Nigeria. This machine covers all our needs in terms of range, demand

At Gianair’s hangar at Kotoka with J32 ‘Aosta’ are, from left, company manager Mohamed Chaibai, dispatcher Moses Okuampah, first officer Quentin Quaye, accountable manager and md Roberto Billia and chief pilot John Heath.

from the client, performance, and also the fact we can land on dirt runways. It’s an ideal aircraft for our operations because it can land on a short runway and the cruise speed is quite good.

Billia points out that a flight to Sierra Leone takes under four hours.

“That’s the reason why we chose to stay on the 32. Our plan is to get an Embraer 120 by the end of the year for FAI anticipates record year

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German air ambulance specialist FAI rent-a-jet has increased its revenues in the first half of 2013 by around 10 per cent compared with 2012, to more than US$47m. The company is now expecting a yearly turnover of more than $92m. The increase is driven by the ambulance sector and by public services for NGOs in crisis areas such as Afghanistan and Senegal.

Its Hangar 7 development project, which will add another 3,000sqm of hangar space to the company base at Nuremberg International airport, is scheduled for completion by the end of this year, at which point FAI will look to further expand its 200strong workforce.

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a new contract that is coming and for which we need a bigger capacity. But we want to specialise ourselves in one type of machine – we don’t want to have too many different types. We are only a small company and with one type of aircraft things are easier in terms of maintenance, training and spare parts.”

Gianair bought its first Jetstream in Norway through Helitrans. The

latest one was bought from Sweden, and Billia explains that it is now considering a third Jetstream 32, in light of requiring a backup: “Since we are now flying seven days a week with a new contract in Ghana on a gold mine, along with a contract in the Ivory Coast, the two aircraft are flying every single day, so we need to get the third Jetstream 32 as a backup,” he explains.

Regarding the future, Billia forecasts a branching out of the business: “Since we are already doing medical evacuations, the plan for the future is to be able to get a mediumrange jet to fly to Europe and to South Africa non-stop. At the moment we can only serve west Africa. We have had many requests to evacuate patients to South Africa or to Europe but unfortunately with our aircraft we cannot do it non-stop. So we are looking to develop this.

“I am trying to work with our clients to guarantee a minimum of hours per month for us to buy a jet maybe a Learjet or something like that. To enter into any sort of contract is quite risky. But we are looking to provide this for the client; we have been asked to get an aircraft in Ghana.”

Despite ambitions for a jet, the current aircraft are ideally suited to Gianair’s missions: “We fly between 10 and 14 people a day on each leg so the 18-seat configuration is perfect for us at the moment.

Usually our scheduled flights have legs of between 30 and 45 minutes, so quite short.

“The price is also excellent value.

To purchase a Jetstream is roughly US$1m, for a little more you can buy a very good Jetstream 32. A Beech 1900 with similar characteristics only gives you 20 or 30 knots more speed, so the performance is very close. However, to buy a Beech 1900 you need almost $2m, twice the price. Operating costs are virtually the same and from what we can see – we have some competitors operating a Beech 1900 – operating costs and maintenance ares higher on the Beech. For this market there was only one choice for us and this is the Jetstream.”

Operators report that Russian charter demand remains strong Central and eastern European aircraft operators have commented on their current business activity and what they feel the key areas for development are in their regions, ahead of the fourth CEPA (Central European Private Aviation) Expo in November. A number of operators cite Russia and Ukraine as key markets in the current climate.

Maciej Matuszewsk of Warsaw based FlyJet says: “The Russian and Ukrainian markets in particular are quite strong at this time and the local clients definitely prefer bigger aircraft. However, in comparison to last year, we have recently felt a much stronger effort on the part of the clients and brokers to negotiate on price and request discounts.”

Sales manager of Bratislava-based Opera Jet Martina Jakubova adds: “Two thirds of our clients are Russian customers. They are satisfied with the type of aircraft our company offers and they are usually interested in flying in between Russia and central Europe.”

Statistics from the past two years show that there was a total of 1,422 business jet and turboprop aircraft in the central European Union, which includes Germany with 685, Switzerland with 300 and Austria with 270. There were 58 aircraft in

the Czech Republic, 42 in Poland, 25 in Slovenia, 19 in Slovakia and 15 in Hungary.

The market was dominated by light jets and turboprop operators had an average of three aircraft.

Dagmar Grossmann, ceo of Prague-based operator Grossmann Jet Service, sums up the central European market more generally: “Recently many manufacturers have placed representatives into each of the central European countries, which shows that there is a huge potential in the new aircraft market as well as for the pre-owned.

“At the same time, the external speed of cultural growth enables the market to grow due to the fact that more and more people see the business jet as a serious alternative to other modes of transport. This acceptance is very important and is the base of future business in the region. The growth of commerce in the region is still relatively young and therefore there is a huge opportunity for it to be transformed into the perfect environment for healthy and new business for operators.”

This year the CEPA Expo in Prague will look at the synergies between commercial and business aviation and the things that business sectors can learn from each other.

Dagmar Grossmann, ceo of Grossmann Jet Service, believes the central European market is young but promising.

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SEPTEMBER 2013 7

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

AIRCRAFT NEWS...

The Fly Comlux team outside their new headquarters at Villa Margherita, Malta.

Comlux opens in Malta to establish EU base Aviation group Comlux is opening new offices for its Fly Comlux division, in Malta. With a presence on the island since 2008, Comlux Malta has moved during the summer to Villa Margherita, located within the island’s Embassy district.

The company says it operates at the highest levels of safety and reliability, being one of the few vip operators worldwide approved for ETOPS 180 operations and Cat3B auto-landing in bad weather conditions. It manages a fleet of 18 vip aircraft, including 11 registered in Malta, which is a member state of the EU. Many see it as the ideal location, occupying a strategic position as the

gateway between Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Fly Comlux will make Villa Margherita its headquarters, and plans to bring its flight operations, crew training, CAMO, maintenance, finance and human resources departments under the same roof.

“This is an exceptional location to welcome our vip customers and business partners in Malta,” says Andrea Zanetto, ceo of Fly Comlux.

“The offices are spacious and the team is extremely happy to work in this beautiful environment. There is a great pool of talent in Malta and I am looking to grow the staff to further develop services.”

Synergy enhances managed fleet with CitationJet and King Air Synergy Aviation has added two aircraft to its managed fleet. The first, a CitationJet, will be operated for a private owner, mainly around the Mediterranean basin. Md Glen Heavens comments: “We have been operating the CJ series of aircraft for over five years, both on our AOC and for private owners. This latest addition strengthens our position in this sector and we look forward to adding more jets to our fleet in the future.

“I am often asked if we have operated any of our jets from Fairoaks, which of course we don’t and, while our head office is at Fairoaks, we have based aircraft in various locations including Dubai

and Malta. We are not limited to having our aircraft outside our office!”

Synergy’s operations in the Middle East include weekly flights to Afghanistan and regular flights to Iraq. “Afghanistan is one of the most starkly beautiful countries I have ever been to, although clearly we have had to adopt some significant security procedures,” adds Heavens.

Synergy has also added a second aircraft: a four-year-old King Air C90GTi which will be available for charter in September. The addition of this aircraft increases Synergy’s King Air fleet to five, with two B200, two B200GT and the C90GTi.

Mi-171 certified for corporate and vip ops

Embraer adds Phenom features

Russian Helicopters has obtained certification from the aviation register of the Interstate Aviation Committee for the commercial Mi-171, designed for corporate and vip transportation.

The vip version of the MI-171 is produced at Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, a Russian Helicopters company, and its luxury interior is made by Russian Helicopters partner company AeroTaxi-Service, which specialises in creating and servicing vip-class passenger interiors for Russian-built helicopters. It has additional aviation equipment and systems that meet the latest requirements for reliability to ensure safety of operation and maintenance.

Embraer Executive Jets is offering addtional standard and optional features for its Phenom 100. These include multi-function spoilers, 11 new interior collections and options including a refreshment centre, stowage space and premium seats.

The multi-function spoiler acts as a ground spoiler and speed brake.

It can be used for speed reduction and sink rate increase on the approach phase.

Eclipse adds safety package Eclipse Aerospace is bringing in a new package of safety enhancements available for existing Eclipse jet owners. This includes anti-skid brakes, auto throttles, an independent standby display, and improved EFIS software, including the ability to display full size charts on the current multi-function displays. The package is built on the Eclipse Avio IFMS avionics system and is available for existing owners of Eclipse IFMS aircraft as an add-on.

Gulfstream launches app Gulfstream Aerospace has launched 24-Hour Support, an iPhone and iPad compatible application that provides customers with fingertip access to its worldwide product support network.

The app, which will be updated regularly, is a comprehensive source for direct access to Gulfstream technical operations, 19 companyowned and authorised service centres, 13 company-authorised warranty facilities, 43 field service representatives, spare part sales, and other key contacts.

M28 granted EASA icing certificate EASA and the FAA have certified the M28 fixed-wing aircraft for flight in known icing conditions. The M28 is produced by the PZL Mielec company, a business unit of Sikorsky Aircraft.

M28 aircraft produced with the icing system will now be allowed to launch in icy weather that might otherwise delay or cancel flight operations. The M28’s icing system determines the temperature and moisture content of the surrounding environment and applies heat to the propeller, wing struts and critical aerodynamic surfaces to remove any ice build up.

Nextant unveils multilingual web site Nextant Aerospace has launched a multilingual web site that showcases the company’s brand identity.

The site is part of a regional sales marketing strategy. So far this year, the company has announced new

dealerships and multi-aircraft orders in China, India and Russia. In addition, Time Air became Nextant’s first European fleet operator.

Additional languages including Spanish, Chinese, Hindi and Russian will be available on the site.

It works across a range of devices and is integrated with social media.

Dassault introduces Falcon promotional apps Dassault has introduced promotional mobile applications for all its current models; the Falcon 2000S, 2000LXS, 900LX and 7X. They can be easily accessed from the Apple apps store using any iPad or iPhone equipped with iO6 software or from Google Play through an Android device.

AgustaWestland looks to Russia for 2.5t helicopter Russian Helicopters and AgustaWestland have signed an agreement defining the joint design and development programme for a new 2.5-tonne class single engine helicopter. The agreement was signed by Daniele Romiti, ceo of AgustaWestland, and Russian Helicopters ceo Dmitry Petrov.

Preliminary assessment of the helicopter’s technical design and commercial opportunities is expected to be completed in the next few months. The programme, first announced by the partners in summer 2012, is intended to be shared on a 50/50 basis, with the new helicopter being designed for the worldwide market and a wide range of applications.

Production M2 takes flight Cessna’s first production unit of its latest business jet, the Citation M2, has taken its maiden flight out of the company’s Independence, Kansas, facility. The M2 was announced in September 2011 with a design driven by customer and pilot feedback. It is the latest in a succession of new Cessna aircraft to make its initial production flight, and type certification is expected this autumn.

First Gulfstream I flight remembered Gulfstream Aerospace is celebrating the 55th anniversary of the first Gulfstream I flight. The twin-engine turboprop is claimed to be the first aircraft specifically designed and built for business travel.

Today, more than 20 GIs still operate in the US. Several other countries have GIs on their aircraft registry, including Canada, Mexico, Portugal and South Africa.

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EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

ExecuJet Africa is recognised for excellence in business travel ExecuJet Africa has won the ‘Best Air Charter’ category at the second annual Business Traveller Africa awards in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The awards, hosted by Future Group which publishes Business Traveller Africa magazine, are intended to reward excellence in local, regional and intercontinental business travel. The event was held in Sandton at the Sun International Maslow hotel and was well attended by the African travel industry.

Mike Clark, director of ExecuJet Africa flight operations, says: “Business aviation is developing at a pace in Africa and we are delighted to be recognised by the industry, especially in such

a strong field. The demand for charter continues to rise due to the unique needs of the region.

We look forward to growing our fleet and services and we are pleased to be the charter company of choice in Africa.”

Future Group partnered with independent research company TNS Research Surveys to question the industry and collate the results. Winners in 20 business travel categories ranged from airlines, hotels and car rental, to travel management, visas and the foreign exchange market.

ExecuJet Africa has a fleet of 60 managed aircraft and helicopters in Africa. In addition, the company has award-winning FBO and MRO facilities in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Lagos.

Devon Air Ambulance doubles capability with specially configured EC135

Marketing and sales director for ExecuJet Africa Stephen Paddy (left) with Dylan Rogers, editor of Business Traveller Magazine.

Devon Air Ambulance has added a second Eurocopter EC135 to its fleet, and performed a five-day tour through Devon, thanking the public for funds raised to finance air ambulances within the emergency medical service system.

The P2i model joins an EC135 T2 previously acquired by the Devon Air Ambulance Trust, both of which are fully owned by the Exeterbased charity.

“Our new helicopter is a very special air ambulance with many tailored design features that were only made possible by the superb collaboration and understanding between our staff and Eurocopter,” says Heléna Holt, chief executive officer. “Owning both our helicopters is the culmination of many years of planning and fundraising, but it has all been very worthwhile, as we are not only saving considerable sums of money, but are able to continue improving our service to the people of Devon,” she says.

Heli Air opens Manchester base to better reach its clients UK-based onshore helicopter operator Heli Air has opened a new base at Manchester’s City airport and heliport, also known as Barton. This follows the acquisition of Heli NorthWest and will add to the operator’s UK-wide network of bases, bringing the total to nine.

Heli Air Manchester, as it will be known, will have its own fleet of R22, R44, R66 and Bell 206 helicopters and will be offering services including charter flights and helicopter pilot training. As necessary, the base will be able to call on the company’s combined fleet of over 50 machines to support its training and charter activities.

The new base manager is Alex Brown, an experienced PPL pilot, who will be supported by two fulltime staff pilots/instructors qualified to train for PPL, CPL and type ratings.

Brian Kane, Heli Air’s head of sales and marketing, says: “We were delighted to have the opportunity to purchase Heli NorthWest as the opening of Heli Air Manchester represents a major step forward in our plans to establish a truly national network of bases.

“The majority of the work at Manchester will commence with training. Heli Air has been trading since the mid-80s. We had a growth plan which started five years ago to operate nationally, because the company has been in business for so long. We have clients across the

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whole of the country; our expansion got under way in 2010 when we created Silverstone heliport. That was closely followed by Thruxton and then Fairoaks airport in 2011. In 2012 we opened Heli Air Gloucester at

“We wanted to take the business to the clients rather than make the clients come to us” Gloucestershire airport, and in 2013 we now have Manchester. There will be further expansion plans but we will announce those in a short while. We were already trading at Wellesbourne, near Stratfordupon-Avon; Wycombe, near High Wycombe; and Denham, west of London.

“Geographically, the new base is centrally placed. Our operations consist largely of pipeline patrol: we run Northern Gas and Southern Gas pipeline patrols every week of the year. Our patrols are landing at a huge number of airports up and down the country. Manchester is a regular stop-off for overnight stays and fuel.”

Kane continues by saying that fleet additions are expected: “We are looking to increase the fleet size.

The planned fleet at Manchester will include Robinsons along with the Bell 206 JetRanger.

In addition, we have Eurocopter EC120s and EC130s – both singles – and a Eurocopter AS355 Twin Squirrel. We can reposition any of these to any of our bases in less than an hour.

“We already have a lot of clients in the territory of north Wales and the Chester region. We wanted to take the business to the clients rather than make the clients come to us, so we now have this spine, if you like, from the south right through to the north servicing them properly.”

Kane explains the spread of work: “The pipeline patrol work, which also includes gas and fuel patrol for another company, is very widespread.

The only parts of the country we don’t cover are Wales and west England – that’s not a contract that we have.

There is no doubt that we will look at it at some stage but really and truly it’ll be a benefit to have Manchester there as our base because our pilots will be landing at our own facility, but it won’t change the profile of the work we do.

“The acquisition of Heli NorthWest was pretty fundamental in the deal. We know the previous owner of Heli NorthWest, we in fact trained Gary Cooper to get his FAA license a year or so back. We’ve known Gary ten years or more and he

decided to move into offshore flying, at which point we entered into dialogue with him to take over the business,” Kane adds.

He is upbeat as to future growth potential: “We’re very confident about the potential of Manchester.

Unlike a lot of our contemporaries out there, we have been investing and re-investing in the infrastructure of Heli Air, non-stop, for the last five to six years. We don’t plan for that to stop but maybe slow down for a while. We are alert to opportunities.”

Clients are expected to benefit from the expansion: “Heli Air can now look after its clients better.

At Wellesbourne we service aircraft from Liverpool, Manchester and north Wales. Clients fly to us.

It won’t happen immediately but we will put servicing into Manchester

“Having our base at Cumbernauld gives us a foothold close to central Scotland” as well, which will make life a lot easier for existing clients and new ones.”

Kane believes newly-appointed base manager Alex Brown is the right man for the job: “Alex has moved to

the city so he can do a proper fulltime job. He’s a good PPL with a lot of enthusiasm and is a frequent flyer.

He is also a business management degree student, so he’s not just the guy in the corner with a pen.

He knows and understands the business and he knows how to fly.

He can lead the business in Manchester in the way we want it done – properly.”

In addition, Heli Air has now opened its first base in Scotland, following the recent acquisition of Scotia Helicopters. The operation will be based at Cumbernauld airport, midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The introduction of a Bell 206 is expected very soon, along with a number of Robinson helicopters. Flight and maintenance operations will be moving to a dedicated hangar at the airport with adjacent office space.

Captain Lloyd Whyman, formerly of Scotia Helicopters, has been appointed base manager and will continue to act as the site’s main instructor/examiner.

Heli Air Scotland managing director Charles McCann comments: “Having our base at Cumbernauld gives us a foothold close to the central Scotland motorway network and puts us in an excellent position to cater to the growing vip charter market. With the Ryder Cup and the Commonwealth Games coming up next year, we see great potential.”

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EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

Twinjet expands into midsize with Oryx acquisition Twinjet Aircraft and Oryx Jet are to unite their operations with immediate effect following acquisition of the share capital of Oryx Jet by Twinjet. Detailed discussions with the CAA to allow integration of the companies’ AOCs have been initiated, with contract clients now able to benefit from increased levels of technical and commercial support.

Oryx Jet, voted Best Charter Airline Company in Europe, 2012, in Business Destinations magazine, will move to Twinjet’s base at London Luton airport following a review of the impact of airport opening hours restrictions at Biggin Hill airport.

Twinjet’s chairman John Keeble says: “Following an improvement in the level of charter after four years of consolidation, this new arrangement will allow Twinjet to offer enhanced management and commercial charter activities.”

Given Twinjet’s worldwide long range operating experience over the past 15 years with ACJ, Legacy and Challenger aircraft, and the marketing skills developed by Oryx Jet with Challenger, Falcon, Hawker and Global 5000 aircraft in the European marketplace, the management team is looking forward to providing a seamless and comprehensive service to owners and charterers.

Keeble speaks of how the deal came about: “Mike Bradly Russell, financial director and ceo of Oryx Jet, was a neighbour of mine many years ago – I’ve known him for a very long time. We had a relationship with him when he was financial director at Cabair. He came to me in the early spring and said that he was finding the workload at Oryx quite high, and that Twinjet had a very professional organisation in Luton and had been that way since 1982.

“We had recently completed a contract on a Challenger 604 which had been sold, and we were looking for capacity on a 604 to allocate our existing charter business on that type.

So we started discussions with Mike at that time as to whether we could share use of the 604. Shareholders of Twinjet own The Charter Company UK Ltd, which is a third party charter business based in London, and it has quite a lot of work for Challenger and Hawker aircraft. At the time Oryx was operating both types. To be fair to Biggin Hill, for the types of client Mike has, Luton was perhaps a better option. There are some restrictions where he is, rather like Farnborough.

Luton is completely open and is the biggest corporate jet destination in the London area, and so it has all the facilities.”

The deal has advantages for Twinjet: “Our company was interested because our 604 contract terminated and we were looking for opportunities. Ultimately we came to an agreement with Mike to acquire his shares in the organisation. He will join us on the board and we hope that together we can develop an excellent worldwide charter business.”

It is the mutual benefits that are crucial in Keeble’s view: “As a marketing organisation I think that Oryx has been really excellent. Its image in the charter world is very

good. It operated a Hawker 900XP which was very busy indeed. So we felt that, based on our ability to run an Airbus Corporate Jet and a Challenger worldwide, the combination would work well.

“We’ve operated an ACJ since 1999 and that aircraft literally travels the world. In October it’s doing a roundthe-world tour. We have great technical expertise at Twinjet, and because we hold a type A AOC, which is the highest classification, we have to have a certain level of staffing in order to keep that license properly in place, which is capable of absorbing the management of more aircraft.”

There will now also be management opportunities as Keeble explains: “We’ve been shortlisted on three. Two of those are on Bombardier products: a Challenger 604 and a Global 5000. That’s for an Indian-based company that is looking to expand its manufacturing activities in Europe. This has not been signed yet though. We have a bid out to manage another Hawker 900XP, based upon the background of Oryx.

“We’ve been seen really as a onehorse operator; we have specialised in the Airbus, we’ve operated two of them and it is fair to say that it has been very difficult to recruit mid-size aircraft, and we feel this will be improved with the expertise we will gain from Oryx.”

The complementary nature of the two businesses is another benefit of the merger: “Mike Bradly Russell came here and saw that our operations department is extremely well-run, with 24/7 worldwide capability, and that’s hard to beat really. We’ve got some very

John Keeble believes Twinjet and Oryx Jet can learn from each other’s experience.

experienced controllers running that side of the business, because we have to. We specialise in heads of state and we carry our own royal family and so on, so we have to be ready to fly off anywhere. In the coming months we are off to Australia, Japan and South Africa with that Airbus and I think Oryx management saw they could capitalise on our skills in that area.”

Keeble says that the company will be looking to add a number of staff in the months ahead, particularly on the marketing side. He doesn’t anticipate operations changing significantly, but instead believes that Twinjet can now consolidate in the north London area: “We are in discussions with another as-yet unnamed organisation in the Luton area, with a view to joining us in this group. We’ve seen the growth of south London operators at Farnborough and other places. We haven’t really done it here north of the Thames, yet we are sitting here at an extremely attractive corporate jet airfield.”

FRENCH REGIONAL REVIEW

Phenix Aviation’s chief pilot Reynald Toussaint and doctor Joël Cléro from the Fidelia Assistance medical team, pictured in Valencia with the Super King Air 200.

French business charter enjoys a seasonal peak as recovery looms Two major business aviation airports in France can lay claim to being the country’s top gateway for business aviation: Paris Le Bourget, which has easily the most based business aviation companies, and Nice, which sees the most aircraft departures during summer months.

According to Eurocontrol figures for August Nice is, in fact, the busiest business aviation airport in the whole of Europe by some margin, ahead of Geneva. The most travelled single route is from Nice to Moscow, while the most popular country destination is Italy.

Business aviation activity in France peaked early in 2007 at just a little short of 1,000 flights daily, but fell by around 20 per cent as the financial crises around Europe took hold. Even today the number of flights continues to modestly decline, making air charter trading conditions even more challenging.

At the time of EBAN’s last review of France in 2011 the market was growing and there were reasons for optimism, but unfortunately the recovery soon faltered.

However, all is not doom and gloom.

When you look at the numbers France is still one of the most important territories for business aviation in Europe. So says Adam Twidell, ceo of PrivateFly, which launched its French booking platform www.privatefly.fr last year, and has seen significant growth from the French market.

Twidell backs this up with data drawn from www.wingx-advance.com: “The lynchpin of the market in France is Paris Le Bourget. It is the busiest and most important private aviation airport in Europe, with nearly 50,000 annual flight movements. As a dedicated airport for business aviation, it has a choice of eight FBOs, with significant numbers of aircraft and operators based there, along with many maintenance and service providers.

“Looking at the latest flight numbers in France, in July 2013 the territory was the largest market by a fair distance with 14,000 flight departures taking place from French airports. Year on

A Squirrel takes to the skies for Aerojet Helicoptere.

year, this is just slightly down – 1.3% on July last year. Seasonality of course plays a part in the French market, especially when you consider leisure flights. The Côte d’Azur airports, Nice particularly, see a very strong seasonal peak from May to September.”

Twidell continues: “In July 2013, of the 14,000 flight movements from France, 56% were private flights, that is to say owner or fractional schemes, while 44% were charter flights. But the charter share of flights, versus fractional and ownership is growing year on year. This is a trend that is happening across Europe as a whole.”

He is positive about France’s performance in Europe: “Bearing in mind the French market performance for the year to date, France is declining, but not as considerably as other markets. From January to July 2013, France has seen 71,664 flight departures in total, which is down 1.2% on the same period in 2012. But comparing flight volumes against the second market, Germany, and the UK in third position, France still has over 30% more business.”

When looking at French-based business jet operators, customer service generally is very strong and reliable, Twidell points out. “There can be challenges for French aircraft operators to be price-competitive on certain routes. This is possibly due to a higher cost versus other European or transient international operators.

Many of the French fleets are also owner-managed, so from a charter perspective there can be limitations on getting the owner’s approval.

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When competing against foreign operators there is also the question of VAT to consider. Many overseas operators are basing their aircraft at French airports, and in so doing are exempt from 7% VAT. On the domestic French routings this gives the French operators a significant price disadvantage.”

Twidell notes that another noticeable characteristic of French operators is that they are very often progressive, with regard to winning more charter business. For example, French aircraft operators generally have embraced PrivateFly’s online quoting tool, in order to get quotes as quickly as possible to the end customers.

Austerity in the market is playing a part in terms of aircraft types used Twidell reveals: “In July the only growth category in France was piston aircraft, with usage up 7.6%.

Turboprops also are performing better than jets, which were down – Continued on next page

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EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

FRENCH REGIONAL REVIEW Continued from previous page

3.2% in July. Sixty-four per cent of French flights are business jets, 19% turboprops, and 18% pistons. This mirrors the same split across Europe generally.”

Out of the top 10 business airports in Europe, three were in France in July: Le Bourget, Nice and Cannes Mandelieu. The largest proportion of flights from France, nearly half, are domestic. This demonstrates how private aviation from Le Bourget as a hub benefits from European and international scheduled airline limitations, eg to regional airports such as Bordeaux and Toulon.

“Domestic flights within France are a growing segment, showing an increase in July of 0.8%.

Other key markets from France are flights to the UK (10%), Switzerland and Italy (both 8%). The biggest growth market from France in July was Spain, showing growth of 14.4%, PrivateFly’s ceo concludes.

EBAN spoke next to a selection of charter brokers who run missions in French airspace, in order to establish a broader picture of the market.

London-based Shy Aviation says that it regularly organises charter flights to the south of France, and occasionally Paris, but its French activities are restricted to this.

It believes the market has increased, with more and more flights taking place with clients boarding business aircraft for work as well as pleasure. As its movements are concerned, Shy Aviation says the most popular business aircraft in France are Mustangs and Citations,

Expanding its handling capabilities, Unijet has opened an upgraded FBO facility at Le Bourget.

Giles Vickers Jones, chairman of Shy Aviation says charter activity, especially to the south of France, is increasing.

with CJ2 and XLS+ often used.

Oxygen Aviation of the UK says that the Côte d’Azur is one of its most popular destinations with clients visiting holiday homes, luxury hotels or boarding their yachts. During the winter periods, clients are tending to migrate slightly further north to the French Alps when Chambery, Grenoble and Lyon become popular.

Paris is, for Oxygen, a year-round destination for those travelling for leisure and business. Director Mark Green comments: “Whereas there are often trends with destinations, Côte d’Azur remains among the top destinations, particularly during the summer months. The area has numerous resorts, entertainment and facilities that appeal to wealthy society, and of course the convenience and proximity to resorts of the airports such as Nice, Cannes, Toulon and even La Môle for smaller aircraft allows clients to transfer to the resorts with ease whether it be by ground transportation or helicopter.

“Due to the demographic of Oxygen Aviation’s clients, our most popular aircraft for the French airports would be in the mid-large category of aircraft. The Embraer Legacy has also become very popular in the last five to seven years. In my opinion it is because often clients are renting villas for up to three months at a time, and it is not unusual that they will bring a great deal of luggage.

Additionally, in the Côte d’Azur, there are convenient and well-priced helicopter transfers available to most of the nearby holiday areas.”

Green feels that while the French

Masterjet founder and president Philip Queffelec has invested in Falcon aircraft to stay competitive despite the stagnant French economy.

market – in terms of registered aircraft available for charter – is smaller than it has been in previous years, many European operators from Austria, Germany and other countries are choosing to position their aircraft in these popular airports: “Many operators are now ‘hot-basing’ their aircraft and because France is a regular destination, naturally many aircraft are often available here away from their home base,” he says.

Le Bas International in Ireland was the other broker EBAN spoke to which has France in its remit. The broker organises “a growing volume” of business charters within France and to destinations in France from Europe and north America. It says that the market has increased in the past year with destinations such as Nice and Le Bourget among the most popular.

Helicopter flights around the Riviera holiday resorts have increased fairly dramatically in 2013. It adds that rugby private charters are in demand to cities such as Toulon, Toulouse,

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Bordeaux and Paris, following the fortunes of Irish and English clubs in the Amlin and Heineken Cups. Once again it cites CJ2 and Citation XL aircraft as frequent choices, along with EC130 and EC155. It recently flew a group of wine lovers out of the UK to the Bordeaux region and set them down at the French Air Force base near Cognac, just minutes from the vineyards. The proximity and convenience were appreciated by all, the company says.

EBAN also spoke to French operators themselves, asking them for company developments in the past 12 months along with their take on the business aviation climate in France and how they are approaching it.

Phenix Aviation operates a King Air A100 and a Super King Air 200 from its bases at Le Havre, Rouen and Deauville. In addition to its passenger and freight ops it also runs medevac missions. General manager Jean Borie remarks that activities are a little low, but says that the situation has remained about the same in the past 12 months and that things remain difficult: “We are a really small company and today the greatest challenge we face is regulation change. We have a lot of paperwork and a lot of new regulations to read and reorganise and that is difficult – all it creates is a lot of paper. We’ve lost a lot of time. We have to rewrite all our manuals by taking the same sentence and putting it into another paragraph.

It’s stupid!” he exclaims.

Borie adds that the company is not looking to invest in any new aircraft: “We shall remain with the old aircraft.

The performance has not been a problem, the King Air is performing fine.” The company has not undertaken any unusual flights of late and hours completed per aircraft more or less match up to the previous year. Borie says that Phenix is happy with its retrofitted King Air 200, which has had Blackhawk XP61 installed, and which as a result can now fly higher and faster. He assigns a special mention to everyone in his team for their contribution and their “enthusiasm and involvement” in the work. He is looking to increase productivity and availability in the year ahead.

The opening of a new FBO facility at Le Bourget has been Unijet’s most exciting development of late.

UK sales director Andrew Lee says: “Opening the FBO will be a big step for us because although we are one of the older companies, we have never really handled our own aircraft – it’s

an exciting move.

“We intend to be a first class FBO. We have no intention to be the biggest – that’s not our style really – but we’d just like to deliver a very good service, as we do in the air.”

No new fleet additions are expected, Lee says: “As far as fleet expansion is concerned, we really don’t have anything in that respect to announce. The fleet has remained more or less the same size, but we are recruiting personnel for the FBO and we’re recruiting operations staff as well.

“The last 12 months have been largely successful, although the charter side has stagnated with no real improvement. We’re still going through very difficult times. Basically there are too many aircraft chasing too few customers. There are too many aircraft out there for charter,” he says.

“The other problem we face is taxation in France, and also the competition we face from foreign operators that seem to be able to base their aircraft in Le Bourget and operate at a cheaper rate than us by avoiding paying tax. Those are the main issues that annoy us really!”

Unijet was established back in 1967 and its fleet comprises a CJ2, three CJ3, a Hawker 800XP, a Falcon 50EX, a Falcon 900EX and two Falcon 7X. The new facility means that for the first time the operator will be able to handle third party aircraft. It previously held an FBO but this was exclusively for Unijet clients and occasional sub-chartered aircraft. It will benefit from the increased size of the new FBO.

Business aviation in France by the numbers 210

business aviation airports

Major business aviation airports* 1. Paris Le Bourget 2. Cannes Mandelieu 3. Basel-Mulhouse 4. Nice/Côte d’Azur 5. Toulouse Blagnac

LFPB LFMD LFSB LFMN LFBO

LBG CEQ BSL NCE TLS

* ranked by the number of handler, charter, maintenance, sales and training organisations based at each.

91 business charter operators Leading fixed-wing charter operators** 1. Aero Jets Darta 2. Unijet 3. Twin Jet 4. Chalair 5. Medic’Air International

Leading helicopter charter operators** 1. Heli-Union 2. SAF Helicopteres 3. Helicopteres de France 4. Mont Blanc Helicoptere 5. INAER Helicopter Francea ** ranked by number of aircraft for charter

aircraft 92 business maintenance organisations Leading maintenance companies*** 1. Aeromecanic 2. UniAir Entreprise 3. Troyes Aviation 4. Bourgogne Aero Services 5. Eurocopter France *** ranked by number of aircraft types covered

Leading TRTO training companies*** 1. Eurocopter Training Services 2. FlightSafety Paris 3. Airbus Training 4. Air Qaulifications 5. Helidan *** ranked by number of aircraft types covered

F

1,440 business aircraft on the French register

Data extracted from the Handbook of Business Aviation in Europe, and the EBAN reader roster.

SEPTEMBER 2013 11

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

FRENCH REGIONAL REVIEW

The Voldirect crew prepares for takeoff in its TBM850. Captain Helene Moron, left, with captain Mathieu Gouret.

A patient is taken onboard the Phenix Super King Air 200.

Lee says that most of its charter revenue comes from direct clients, although business is occasionally attained through brokers. He explains the damage that can occasionally be caused to business by rivals: “In recent years, possibly due to the recession and over-capacity within the market place, we have found that some brokers tend to go for the cheapest price over quality of service. As a result we have lost a considerable amount of business to our competitors who, in some cases, go out at rates just above direct operating costs. This type of behaviour ultimately does more damage to the marketplace and prolongs recessional periods.

“We, like any responsible company want to charter our aircraft out, but not at any price; we have a duty to owners to ensure they have a reasonable return on their investment.”

The company does not tend to undertake unusual missions, although Lee does cite one interesting passenger: “We flew Carla BruniSarkozy over for the Jonathan Ross show earlier this year, in May or June.”

Jet Systems Helicopteres Service says it has increased its activities in the last 12 months and now operates a Hughes 500.

Côte d’Azur remains among the top destinations Masterjet has been operational from Le Bourget since 1998. Its fleet includes two Learjet 45, a Falcon 2000, a Falcon 900EX EASy, two Falcon 7X and an ACJ320 with a vvip passenger configuration. It is due to take delivery of another Falcon 2000 in October and a Global 6000 by next April. It employs roughly 50 workers spanning flight crews, charter desk, administration and accounting. The company also has its own branded terminal, operated by Signature. It is also a member of AirClub in the French territory, having set up this alliance with eight other founding operators in 2012.

Sales manager Edward Queffelec says the recently added Falcon 2000 is performing well: “The new operation has been a success from day one as there was a gap in this product range.

We are very keen to receive the second one shortly.” Queffelec goes on to say that he hasn’t seen a big evolution in the first six months of 2013 compared to 1st September 2012, taking aircraft by aircraft in the French territory.

He feels that every team member is worthy of a special mention: “Every department of the company is important to reach the level we are aiming for. The charter desk is the central point, but whether it’s our engineering department making sure aircraft ground time remains at a minimum, or flight crews representing us in the air and on the tarmac, we believe every person is key.”

Queffelec adds: “The year has been reasonably successful considering the general economy in France. It’s a slow economy here and most medium and small companies are reducing their spending, especially in private aviation. However, we do still have demands from big groups and I would say that activities overall are up in the past 12 months in terms of turnover. We’ve reinforced the fleet with the 7X and the 2000. We have consolidated our charter. Having our own terminal from Signature is something important for us.”

In the year ahead Masterjet plans to introduce new aircraft types and charter products to customers and brokers, including the AirClub.

Aerojet Helicoptere also affirms that its hours are not down despite the economic crises. The company runs missions for rail operation SNCF, along with French electric and gas utility companies. In addition it has a flight school for PPL(H) training, which is increasingly busy. It says that its flight hours are up by around 5% in the past year and it has also sold its AS350 BA in order to buy an AS350 B2.

Voldirect was founded in 2009 as a start up with one base at Rennes (LFRN) and one aircraft, a TBM850.

It emerged thanks to two men: Frédéric Caussarieu has been a director in several large telecomms companies, an entrepreneur and experienced professional pilot, while Jean Paul Legendre is an entrepreneur and director of a large construction and civil engineering company. The business activities of both men entailed frequent travelling in France and Europe and, given the absence of an efficient business flight service in Brittany, they became partners and invested in a fast aircraft.

Before long both partners wished to offer the advantages of these business flights to other companies and created an economic association, which seven local companies joined.

The success among the members and numerous requests from other companies led the partners to ask for airline status. It says it now offers a fast and personalised transport services to any individual or company wishing for efficiency and comfort in a private aircraft. In the coming

months it plans to develop in other regions outside Rennes and Brittany, and is also hoping to bring in a new aircraft.

Caussarieu describes an unusual flight Voldirect has undertaken of late: “One good example is a flight we made to Split, Croatia, to meet the business needs of one of our customers. This is an interesting flight because of the long distance from our base.” The founder says that his turboprop is extremely reliable: “The TBM850 was purchased in 2009 and has been performing very well. In terms of flight hours, during the first three months of the year, the trend was negative compared to 2012.

However, since April, the situation has improved and the trend is similar to the former year.”

Other major news this year came when Voldirect was granted an AOC for its TBM850 turboprop in instrument meteorological conditions, as reported by EBAN in July. The granting of this AOC for single engine IFR operations with a turboprop aircraft was a first in Europe, as EU Ops regulations do not ordinarily allow single engine commercial passenger services.

Caussarieu praises the work of chief pilot Matthieu Gournet for his role in the successes this year: “Matthieu is certainly the key person as he runs the aerial operations. He has managed the expertise of the crew and the Standard Operating Procedures implementation, with the new rules of SE-IMC.” iXAir operates light, midsize and heavy jets, principally from Paris Le Bourget. It does, however, have the capability to run missions from Lyon Bron and Cannes Mandelieu. The fleet comprises a Falcon 50, a Falcon 900, a CJ1 and a CJ3 and along with passenger ops it has been known to carry freight on occasion, in addition to running photography and film operations. The company always positions an aircraft in Cannes during the summer period, from May to September, and its Falcon 50 is certified for St Tropez La Môle in order to meet clients’ expectations.

Clients often want to land very close to their final destination and this base is ideally suited to that purpose. In the past 12 months iXAir has received a new Citation CJ4, based in Lyon Bron.

It is not yet on the company AOC and is therefore currently unavailable for commercial ops. ■

O P E R AT I O N S N E W S . . .

FlightSafety promotes Kerriou FlightSafety International has promoted Yannick Kerriou to assistant manager of its Paris Le Bourget learning centre.

Kerriou began his career in commercial aviation with British Airways as an aircraft maintenance technician after serving in the French Air Force for five years. He first joined FlightSafety at the Paris centre in 1990.

Hadid provides extended African network Hadid reports that its own staff can now provide supervision in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Republic of Congo. Hadid’s supervisors have full access to all the national airports in these countries and besides handling supervision and airport fees payment, the supervisors are able to arrange transportation and hotel bookings at highly competitive rates.

Since credit cards are not accepted at most of these airports, Hadid can provide services on credit where needed, including airport fees.

provides owners and operators with a predictable maintenance budget.

Jetcraft acquires EAT Jetcraft Corporation has acquired the aircraft brokerage activities of ExecuJet Aircraft Trading (EAT), the business aircraft sales division of ExecuJet Aviation Group of Zurich, Switzerland.

AW139 maintenance costs fall AgustaWestland is introducing enhancements to its maintenance programme for the AW139 intermediate twin-engine helicopter, which will reduce maintenance and operating costs and enable operators to further increase aircraft availability and utilisation.

The programme allows more efficient maintenance planning, especially for those operators who need maximum availability for daylight missions and can resort to maintenance at night, such as in the offshore oil and gas support market.

JSSI expands coverage

Raisbeck approved for the 200

Jet Support Services, Inc. has launched its Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 airframe programmes.

These latest programmes enhance the existing manufacturer warranties and provide comprehensive coverage for airframe maintenance costs. Covering virtually every part, component, assembly and system of the airframe, including all parts and labour for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, the Phenom airframe programme

EASA has certified Raisbeck Engineering’s swept blade turbofan propellers for all 200-series Beechcraft King Airs. The propellers meet both the FAA/EASA certification requirements and the strict environmental protection requirements of the European community. Benefits include quieter operation and increased thrust due to the effects of blade sweep and increased propeller diameter. Striking ramp presence is another advantage.

Cedar completes FBO upgrade Lebanese FBO Cedar Jet Center is expanding its facilities with a state-ofthe-art crew lounge, a snooze room and operations offices. Moreover, new ground handling equipment has been purchased including an Audi A8 vip car.

Comprehensive data for France online free-of-charge The 2013/14 Handbook of Business Aviation, Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa Edition, was published in May, and gives details of many more French charter operators. It also lists business aviation facilities and services including airports, FBOs and maintenance centres.

The details can be accessed online through a search of aircraft operated or the airport bases. For more information please visit www.handbook.aero

World class service from Menzies Aviation: Now fully open at Barcelona T +34 932 984735 E BCN.FBO@menziesaviation.com VHF 131.875, SITA BCNGA7X

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

12 SEPTEMBER 2013

w w w. c h a r t e r b r o k e r. a e r o ACI ends summer on a high Air Charter International is reporting increased figures for August 2013, with activity up 20 per cent on July. It says there has been an increase in demand of narrow body aircraft charters within the Gulf region, with number of charters also up 20 per cent on the previous year. It has seen consistent demand for aircraft less than five years old for trips within the Middle East and North Africa region. Smaller and more economical jets are also desirable in this region, though ACI has found it more difficult to offer this because of poor availability.

ACC placed in Sunday Times Top 200 ACC Aviation was placed 95th in the recent Sunday Times International Track 200, a survey which ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the fastestgrowing international sales, measured over their latest two years of available accounts. ACC charters any size of aircraft, from small vip jets and helicopters to large commercial airliners.

Customers of late have included sports teams, the Ministry of Defence, tour operators, and global airlines needing aircraft at the last minute because of technical faults or other problems.

leisure travel.�

He adds: “We are seeing a slight shift in our clients’ buying behaviour. Many are booking smaller aircraft, but more regularly.

We are also winning new business as people move away from fractional ownership and traditional hourly jet cards, some preferring ad-hoc charters whilst others switch to our take on the jet card.�

Air Partner appoints private jet director Air Partner has appointed Paul Richardson as director of its private jet division. Richardson joins the company having accrued 20 years of business experience and will be based in the UK. He will have global responsibility for Air Partner’s private jet division, excluding North America, and joins the leadership team of Air Partner plc.

The new director previously held a number of senior management roles, including head of London private banking at Coutts & Co and head of sports media and entertainment at Barclays Wealth. He is also a committee member for the Steve Redgrave Fund within the Comic Relief charity.

Richardson says: “Air Partner has an excellent platform combining heritage, brand and industry leading products, with strong financials and a stellar track record.�

Charter-a adds Amara luxury Charter-a Ltd and Amara have created a ‘luxury on luxury’ flying experience for Charter-a’s customers. Amara supplies designer homeware products and the new concept looks at bringing the comforts and technology found in the home and office into air travel. Services include on-hand waiting services and relaxing furnishings.

Group executive jets director Ruan Courtney.

ACS has record month for bookings Air Charter Service’s private jet division has had a record month in terms of charter bookings in July.

Ruan Courtney, group executive jets director, comments: “We booked more than 800 flights in July meaning that, on average, an ACS private jet flight departed every 55 minutes throughout the month. The summer period is traditionally the busiest time for private jet charters, as our regular corporate business is boosted by

PrivateFly gets X factor PrivateFly is working with ITV on this season’s The X Factor, sponsoring a competition to win a private jet trip to Paris. Earlier this month the company teamed up with ITV to make a promotional film featuring pop group JLS. The film was shot using London Executive Aviation’s Citation XL at Signature, Luton airport, and will be aired over several shows during October 2013.

Carol Cork, PrivateFly’s marketing director, says: “It’s an exciting opportunity to be working with one of the biggest shows on UK TV. �

Column sponsored by

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The aircraft static display at BGAD is conveniently located alongside the exhibition.

Vital topics, the latest business aircraft and bowling are on the Cambridge agenda The largest ever UK Business and General Aviation Day – BGAD13 – takes place at Cambridge airport on Tuesday September 17th from 10.00-16.00. This will be the ninth time that EBAN has partnered with Cambridge International airport to host the day, now firmly established as a key event in the UK business aviation calendar.

After a successful move there last year, the large Hangar 22 at the airport will hold the event once more, and BGAD will again have a dedicated entrance into the hangar. Joining hosts ExecuJet and Cambridge International airport this year is Shell Aviation, BGAD’s gold sponsor.

Marshall group companies FlairJet and Marshall Aviation Services will also be on hand, along with Avfuel, which is sponsoring chilled water, and AirOps Software, which is sponsoring event bags.

BGAD organiser Mark Ranger says: “Visitors and exhibitors at BGAD

comment most of all on the attractiveness of a business aviation event that takes place on a single day, with over 60 exhibiting companies, at least 16 aircraft on static display, an array of cars to be viewed and, new this year, a ten-pin bowling challenge organised by PrivateFly, which has had a significant number of teams from aviation companies sign up to participate. There are excellent networking opportunities to be had, in an informal environment.

Essentially BGAD has all the features of a three-day trade show, including a comprehensive seminar programme, all taking place in one day.�

Nearby Newmarket Road Park and Ride will be in use once more, with free parking supported by a free shuttle to the show courtesy of Airport Lynx.

BGAD is open to professional visitors, and is free to attend. Preregister at www.bgad.aero until September 15th to save time.

The BGAD static display The static display at BGAD is once again showcasing all sectors of business aviation, as well as cars. Aircraft are all open for inspection and located directly alongside the exhibition and conference hall. There will be manufacturer demonstrators, aircraft available for charter and even aircraft for sale. Please note that aircraft availability is always subject to operational considerations, so if you intend visiting BGAD to view a particular aircraft, please check the BGAD web site, www.bgad.aero, for late changes to the line up.

Aircraft on display

Helicopters

Jets

• Eurocopter EC155 (ExecuJet) • Eurocopter EC155 (Lanthwaite Aviation)

• • • • • • • •

Cessna Citation Bravo (FlairJet) Cessna Citation XLS (FlairJet) Cessna Citation CJ4 (Cessna) Gulfstream G280 (Gulfstream Aerospace) Diamond DA42 (Diamond Executive Aviation) Eclipse Jet (Aeris Aviation) Hawker 400XP (SaxonAir Charter) Phenom 300 (Embraer Executive Jets)

Turboprops • Beechcraft Super King Air 200 (2Excel Aviation) • Beechcraft Super King Air 200 (Dragonfly Executive Charter) • Beechcraft King Air 250 (Jetability)

Aircraft for sale • Beechcraft King Air C90GTi (Jetability)

Car display Marshall Motor Group (MMG) will once again be putting a selection of its motor vehicles on display, spanning the wide range of dealerships within the MMG division: Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, Ford, Nissan, Vauxhall and Hyundai. This year BGAD will also feature mobile units from both Honda and Citroen.

2EXCEL AVIATION BOOTH: 57 Telephone: +44 1604 671 309 Email: info@2excelaviation.com Web: www.2excelaviation.com 2Excel Aviation operates a number of business streams under its own UK AOC. These include: BroadSword, a personalised air travel service which currently manages three King Airs based at Sywell and Cambridge; The Blades Aerobatic Team, the only aerobatic display team in the world that also operates as an airline and provides a powerful platform for unique aviation events and flying experiences; Scimitar, which operates a fleet of three Navajo PA31 aircraft employing industryrecognised test and evaluation techniques; and Sabre, contract air services that customers buy off-the-shelf.

AERIS AVIATION AIRCRAFT DISPLAY Telephone: +44 1297 680 706 Email: sales@aerisaviation.co.uk Web: www.aerisaviation.co.uk Aeris Aviation Limited is the sales dealership in Europe for Eclipse Aerospace Inc. and is based in the UK. The company owns an EA500 demonstrator jet which is operated from its home base of Dunkeswell EGTU in Devon, UK. Pound for pound the Total Eclipse twin-engine jet outperforms every other jet aircraft in the world.

This is an aircraft that was designed with an eye towards efficiency, innovation, and is becoming a business tool that is affordable, fast, and efficient.

AERO REP BOOTH: 29 Telephone: +44 1702 541 197 Email: philcamp@btconnect.com Web: www.aerorep.co.uk Aero Rep Ltd is a distributor for Lektro, Aero Specialties, Avionics Specialist (ASI) and LJ Walch.

Lektro manufactures a range of towbarless battery powered tugs capable of moving all fixed wing aircraft up to a MTOW of 82 tonnes. Aero Specialties manufactures and distributes a wide range of aircraft GSE including tow bars, lavatory and water carts, start carts, stairs and hydraulic maintenance units. ASI repairs and sells avionics equipment and manufactures and calibrates test equipment, while LJ Walch repairs and overhauls electrical components.

AIR ELITE NETWORK BOOTH: 12 Telephone: +1 800 544 3835 Web: www.airelitenetwork.net Air Elite is a global network of uniquely exceptional FBOs that offer Diamond level service and facilities with excellence in safety and training. Each Air Elite Diamond location adheres to strict service and facility standards that ensure service excellence, while allowing each member to maintain their own unique regional flair. With 30 locations and growing, Air Elite FBOs are strategically located worldwide to meet the needs of the business aviation industry. FlyBuys Rewards Program members earn quadruple FlyBuys rewards with the use of a linked AVCARD account and double FlyBuys rewards for World Fuel Services – Alliance Contract Fuel transactions.

AIR SUPPORT A/S BOOTH: 51 Telephone: +45 7533 8889 Email: sales@airsupport.dk Web: www.airsupport.dk

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2013 13

Air Support specialises in PC-based flight planning software systems with integrated web-based crew briefing services known as PPS – Preflight Planning System and CrewBriefing – aimed at corporate and commercial business aircraft operators, regional/charter/cargo, national airlines and military operators as well as service providers.

Today, the PPS solution is used by aircraft operators in 32 countries which daily operate more than 300 aircraft types and versions. The PPS software solution is powered by Lufthansa systems worldwide navigation data including all global route restrictions.

AIROPS SOFTWARE PART OF THE MARSHALL GROUP

BOOTH: 10/11 + SPONSOR Telephone: +44 8448 022 100 Email: info@airopssoftware.com Web: www.airopssoftware.com

engines, giving enhanced climb and cruise performance. This year the company plans to display its Beech King Air B200 G-MEGN, which has just emerged from a full repaint from baremetal and refurbishment of the beige leather interior. Visitors are invited to view for themselves why the iconic King Air 200 is the charter aircraft of choice for those who appreciate its combination of performance, economy and comfort, offering considerably more cabin and luggage space than light jets. DragonFly was established in 2004 and over the last nine years has become a well-known and respected charter company with a reputation for quality, dependability and professionalism.

Airops Software Limited specialises in the design and development of software and IT systems for the aviation industry. In business since 1989, it is based at Farnborough Airport in the UK. Airops undertakes a wide variety of consultancy tasks for its customers, although it is perhaps best known for its two leading aviation software products: AIRoPS 5 for aircraft operators and brokers; and AIRoPS Movement-Exec for airports, handling agents and FBOs.

AVIATION INFO TECH BOOTH: 48 Telephone: +44 1223 264 393 Email: pgmait@aol.com Web: www.aviationinfotech.com Aviation Info Tech is a flight operations consultancy which supports private and corporate operators and AOC holders, particularly those based in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

AIT specialises in ensuring clients comply with ICAO Annex 6 Part II legalisation, in particular UK overseas Territory Article 85 approvals, as an approved provider or via IS-BAO. Aviation Info Tech is also a consultant to the Bermuda DCA.

AVIATION QUALITY MANAGEMENT SERVICES BOOTH: 21 Telephone: +44 1702 531 858 Email: info@aqms.org.uk Web: www.aqms.org.uk IS-BAO accredited SMS, certification services, safety, technical documentation, maintenance compliance and continuation training for operators, MROs, manufacturers and Part 147 training schools. The company seeks to help with IS-BAO accredited/EASA compliant SMS, EASA and maintenance compliance. It provides quality and airworthiness management support and audits; company expositions and procedures writing; troubleshooting, training and safety management systems (SMS).

AW AVIATION SERVICES BOOTH: 40 Telephone: +44 1797 364 331 Email: info@awavs.com Web: www.awavs.com AW Aviation Services (AWAVS) believes it has opened the first independent facility in the UK that is dedicated specifically to aircraft technical record checking, scanning and storage. Aimed at owners, operators, MROs and component suppliers, AWAVS is preempting the pending guidance of the CAA and EASA to store aircraft records in electronic format towards the end of 2014. AWAVS also has secure storage capacity for hard copy aircraft records. The AWAVS technical records facility is based in Kent, UK. The good transport links in the region ensure clients can be efficiently serviced throughout the UK and Europe.

BALTIC AIR CHARTER ASSOCIATION BOOTH: 47 Telephone: +44 20 7623 5501 Email: baca@balticexchange.com Web: www.baca.org.uk BACA represents the interests of commercial aviation companies particularly in the air charter industries and markets. Membership includes air brokers, charter airlines, airports, business aircraft operators, freight forwarders and consultants.

BASEOPS INTERNATIONAL BOOTH: 12 Telephone: +1 281 556 2400 Email: sales@baseops.com Web: www.baseops.com World Fuel Services, the global leader in the marketing of aviation, marine and land fuel products and logistics services, is a Fortune 500 company with over 25 years of experience working with business aviation. By leveraging the highlyexperienced staff of AVCARD and Baseops, World Fuel Services is able to offer unprecedented service in the supply, quality control, logistical support and price risk management of fuel, trip planning and related services. World Fuel Services contract fuel has prearranged fuel available at more than 3,000 locations around the world. Its combined financial strength and specialised expertise afford it the ability to meet demand while helping make a business more efficient and cost-effective. It is staffed by more than 1,200 people in 44 offices in 190 countries.

BRITISH BUSINESS AND GENERAL AVIATION ASSOCIATION BOOTH: 41 Telephone: +44 1844 238 020 Email: rachael@bbga.aero Web: www.bbga.aero

EMBRAER EXECUTIVE JETS AIRCRAFT DISPLAY Telephone: +44 1252 379 270 Email: simon.burrows@embraer.fr Web: www.embraerexecutivejets.com

The MRO deal is sealed in Wichita, Kansas, by Christi Tannahill, Hawker Beechcraft senior vp, global customer support, and Steve Fitz-Gerald, ceo, Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group. With them are Dave Rosenberg, Beechcraft’s vp, strategic planning and programmes (left) and Charles Hughes, business development and strategy development, Marshall ADG (right).

Marshall takes on Beechcraft’s UK sales and flagship Chester MRO centre Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has purchased Beechcraft’s flagship European MRO business, Hawker Beechcraft Limited. The Broughton, UK, site which is also known as Hawker Beechcraft Services Chester, has provided a full range of maintenance, modification, paint and upgrade services to owners of Hawker and Beechcraft aircraft for over 50 years. The business will be known as Marshall Aviation Services.

Steve Fitz-Gerald, ceo of Marshall ADG, comments: “We are committed to a strategy of building our civil aerospace business and I am delighted that Hawker Beechcraft Limited has become part of Marshall Aviation Services. This is our second business aviation acquisition this

year and demonstrates our ambition to grow and become a major player in the business and commercial aviation marketplace.”

Marshall at Cambridge will continue to provide a vital service and support role for Beechcraft throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa and has been granted Authorised Service Centre status for Hawker and King Air aircraft.

Christi Tannahill, senior vp of Hawker Beechcraft global customer support, adds: “We view the transition of our service facility to Marshall as a positive development for customers, employees and the aviation industry in the region. We are confident Hawker and Beechcraft owners and operators will continue

CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY

BBGA is the British Business and General Aviation Association. The association is the trade body representing companies operating and trading in the general and business aviation industry, including manufacturers, business aviation operators, maintenance, repair and overhaul, training, aircraft and helicopter sales organisations, spares stockists and other supporting organisations including finance, insurance and publishing companies.

BOOTH: 43 Telephone: +44 1293 567 171 Web: www.caa.co.uk The CAA is the UK’s specialist aviation regulator. It exists to protect consumers and the public. Its activities include: making sure that the aviation industry meets the highest technical and operational safety standards; protecting consumers’ rights; enhancing competition; preventing holidaymakers from being stranded abroad or losing money because of tour operator insolvency; planning and regulating all UK airspace; regulating airports, air traffic services and airlines; and providing impartial advice on aviation policy.

CAMBRIDGE AERO CLUB BOOTH: 18 Telephone: +44 1223 373 717 Email: enquiries@cambridgeaeroclub.com Web: www.cambridgeaeroclub.com Cambridge Aero Club says it is one of the longest established flight training schools in the world.

Based at Cambridge Airport, it has been training pilots for more than 60 years. Its highly experienced instructor team has an infectious enthusiasm for flying and teaching. Between them, they have amassed an unrivalled level of instructing expertise and have become highly specialised in everything from basic flight instruction to advanced aerobatics.

CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BOOTH: HOSTS Telephone: +44 1223 373 535 Email: airport.operations@cambridgeairport.com Web: www.cambridgeairport.com Cambridge Airport has 24/7 capability, customs and immigration services, and excellent travel links to London. With a 2km runway and no slot restrictions, the airport can accept public transport aircraft up to Boeing B757 size.

CAXTON FX LTD BOOTH: 44 Telephone: +44 20 7201 0550 Email: info@caxtonfx.com Web: www.caxtonfx.com Caxton FX is a leading provider of foreign exchange and travel expense management services, and is perfectly placed to provide specialist support to the business and general aviation industry across a

to receive world-class support through this newly designated Authorised Service Centre.”

Marshall Aviation Services also plans to broaden the range of aircraft types supported at Broughton and leverage its design and integration expertise to provide aircraft manufacturers, governments and specialist operators with innovative engineering and support solutions to satisfy special mission requirements.

In addition, Marshall has been appointed exclusive aircraft sales distributor for Beechcraft’s range of commercial and special mission King Air turboprops and pistonengine aircraft in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia.

broad range of currency requirements. It boasts ‘bank-beating exchange rates’ with no commission or transfer fees. Caxton also allows the client to make smaller international payments online – currency can be transferred and tracked 24/7. In addition the company provides business travel solutions. For staff travelling overseas, currency cards can help control business travel costs. This means the customer is able to get great exchange rates and there are no fees or charges. Caxton’s online account management system enables tighter financial controls through instant monitoring of expenditure.

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY AIRCRAFT DISPLAY Telephone: +44 1252 378 811 Email: tperry@cessna.textron.com Web: www.cessna.com Cessna Aircraft Company is one of the world’s leading general aviation companies. Since its inception in 1927, Cessna has designed, produced and delivered nearly 200,000 aircraft around the world. This includes 6,500 Citation business jets, making it the largest fleet of business jets in the world. Today, Cessna has two principal lines of business: aircraft sales and aftermarket services.

Aircraft sales include Citation business jets, Caravan single-engine utility turboprops, single engine piston aircraft and lift solutions by CitationAir. Aftermarket services include parts, maintenance, inspection and repair services.

Embraer S.A. is one of the world’s major aircraft manufacturers for the commercial, executive, and defence aviation segments. With a diverse portfolio of seven executive jets, ranging from the entry level jets to the ultra large category, Embraer has become a major player in the business aviation market with aircraft positioned at the top of their respective classes, offering superior space and comfort, excellent performance and low operating costs. The entry level Phenom 100, the light Phenom 300, the midlight Legacy 450, the midsize Legacy 500, the super midsize Legacy 600, the large Legacy 650, and the ultra-large Lineage 1000 jets are designed to meet customer needs at all levels.

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS BOOTH: 26 + HOST Telephone: +44 1279 714 509 Email: mark@ebanmagazine.com Web: www.ebanmagazine.com EBAN magazine is EMEA’s leading business aviation title and the only magazine with an audited circulation to every owner and operator of a business aircraft in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa.

EXECUJET UK BOOTH: 1 + HOST Telephone: +44 1223 373 214 Email: fbo.egsc@execujet.eu Web: www.execujet.net The ExecuJet Aviation Group is a leading global business aviation organisation offering a diverse range of services including pre-owned and new aircraft sales, aircraft management for private and commercial registered aircraft, aircraft charter, maintenance, completions management and fixed base operations. Headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, ExecuJet has operations in six regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

FLAIRJET AIRCRAFT DISPLAY + HOST Telephone: +44 1865 372 069 Email: operations@flair-jet.com Web: www.flair-jet.com Flairjet was conceived and built upon the principle of premier but affordable service to its customers.

A combination of the 1930s golden era of diamond class quality flying and the modern requisites of efficiency, reliability, technology and safety comprise its ethos. One of the company’s new Embraer Phenom 300 aircraft will be available on BGAD’s static aircraft display.

DIAMOND EXECUTIVE AVIATION BOOTH: 2 Telephone: +44 1777 838 731 Email: operations@diamond-executive.aero Web: www.diamond-executive.aero Diamond-Executive Aviation (DEA) is said to be the world’s largest AOC operator of the carbonfibred, Mercedes Benz powered, jet-fuelled DA42 Twin Star. In less than two years DEA’s fleet has grown from an initial one launch aircraft to seven, with operating bases in the UK and Italy. The DA42 has brought new levels of customer service and price performance. First to passenger operations, then to unaccompanied donor flights, then flights inspection and calibration of airports and navigation aids and now to airborne reconnaissance and surveillance. At this year’s BGAD, DEA will have the DA42MPP reconnaissance version on show along with a ‘normal’ DA42.

DRAGONFLY AVIATION SERVICES AIRCRAFT DISPLAY Telephone: +44 1446 711 144 Email: info@dragonflyac.com Web: www.dragonflyac.com DragonFly Executive Air Charter is again displaying one of its Beechcraft King Air 200 series turboprops. Last year Howard Palser and his team from DragonFly brought G-BVMA to Cambridge following the aircraft’s retrofit with new BlackHawk

GAMA AVIATION BOOTH: 10/11 Telephone: +44 1252 553 020 Email: charter@gamagroup.com Web: www.gamagroup.com Gama is a global business aviation services provider, founded in 1983 in the UK by Marwan Khalek and Stephen Wright. It employs over 400 personnel and operates over 80 business aircraft from more than 30 operating bases around the globe. The group’s companies and affiliates hold EU-OPS, FAA Part 135 and UAE GCAA charter certificates, EASA, FAA and GCAA Part 145 maintenance approvals, EASA Part 21 design and manufacture approvals and offer business aircraft charter, management, FBO, maintenance, design, valeting and aviation software services.

GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE CORPORATION AIRCRAFT DISPLAY Telephone: +1 912 965 5653 Email: pete.buresh@gulfstream.com Web: www.gulfstream.com Gulfstream is one of the premier manufacturers of high end, luxury business jets. Its product line offers an exceptional combination of price, performance and value-added customer preferences in each segment of the mid-cabin to ultra-large cabin business jet market.

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

14 SEPTEMBER 2013

seeking quick, efficitent, discreet and secure entry into or departure from the UK. It is ideal for all corporate aircraft, up to and including Boeing and Airbus business jets with a maximum capacity of 30 passenger seats. The unique combination of modern facilities and the highest standards of protocol, set against an atmosphere of heritage and tradition, makes RAF Northolt a compelling choice. An unparalleled location with transport links into central London, it is the perfect solution for vip arrivals and departures.

ROAMINGEXPERT.AERO

PART OF THE MARSHALL GROUP

Fixed wing and helicopter types will be on show at the one-day event.

HALKIN JET

Regardless of the size, the Megadoor ensures an efficient workflow.

BOOTH: 39 Telephone: +39 0173 979 027 Email: info@halkinjet.com Web: www.halkinjet.aero

OXFORDJET BOOTH: 28 Telephone: +44 1865 290 600 Email: customerservices@oxfordjet.com Web: www.oxfordjet.com

With a tagline of ‘fly surrounded by luxury,’ Halkin Jet is an Italian private aviation firm which provides flights to almost anywhere in the world non-stop. It prides itself on putting everwhere within reach for its clients.

HAYWARD AVIATION

Take the opportunity to make new business contacts.

BOOTH: 6/7 Telephone: +44 20 7902 7800 Email: info@haywards.net Web: www.haywards.net

MARSHALL AVIATION SERVICES

Hayward Aviation Ltd is Europe’s leading business and general aviation insurance broker. It designs, negotiates and places high quality, low cost insurance programmes for clients throughout Europe and further afield.

LONDON OXFORD AIRPORT BOOTH: 28 Telephone: +44 1865 290 600 Email: ops@oxfordairport.co.uk Web: www.londonoxfordairport.com London Oxford has been the fastest growing business aviation airport in the UK for the last five years, with a longer, stronger runway, ILS, new primary and secondary radar for 2012 and an award-winning FBO facility. With opening hours possible from 06:00 to midnight seven days a week, and Cat 6 RFFS for aircraft up to A319/BBJ-size, the airport’s functionality is more impressive than ever. It now has 35,000 square metres of heavy jet hard standing available and has increased hangarage by 80% in the last five years for aircraft up to 737-800 size.

HOST Telephone: +44 1223 399 966 Email: info@marshallas.com Web: www.marshallas.com Marshall Business Aviation specialises in the conversion, modification, maintenance and support of Cessna Citation aircraft. It has a Cessna authorised service facility for the Citation 500 series aircraft that can complete warranty work.

The company can undertake standard maintenance and service work and project manage cabin refurbishments, and livery can also be changed in its dedicated paint shop.

MARTYN FIDDLER ASSOCIATES BOOTH: 5 Telephone: +44 1279 810 020 Email: mfal@i.im Web: www.i.im As Europe’s leading aviation and VAT specialist, and part of the ICM Group, Martyn Fiddler Associates Limited is well known throughout the aviation industry for the quality of its advice and service. Aircraft and helicopter owners and

operators know that flying in the EU can create VAT and duty liability. Failure to deal with these issues correctly can be very expensive and lead to customs authorities seizing aircraft whilst the matter of how much is due in VAT, duties and fines is dealt with. Martyn Fiddler handles these matters, ensuring that VAT and duty are accounted for at the optimum rate.

MEGADOOR AB BOOTH: 20 Telephone: +46 910 83700 Email: sales@megadoor.com Web: www.megadoor.com ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems (AAES) is made up of the world’s leading brands for commercial, industrial and public entrance applications, including applications with exceptional demands.

With more than half a century of experience and a wealth of expertise, it is the ideal partner to provide, maintain and modernise entrances.

Its vertical lifting fabric door, the Megadoor, is designed for industrial environments requiring very large door openings. Even when the openings are massive, exposed to high wind loads, extreme temperature and harsh environments, entrances must always be up to the challenge.

Oxfordjet, run by London Oxford Airport, is one of the premier independent handling businesses (FBOs) in Europe, providing a service of exceptional quality along with an exclusive business aviation environment. The awardwinning FBO has several crew and passenger lounges, crew snooze rooms, bedrooms, luxury bathrooms, meeting facilities with modern AV systems and handling facilities for airliners with up to 100 seats.

PRIVATEFLY BOOTH: 53-56 Telephone: +44 1747 642 777 Email: enquiries@privatefly.com Web: www.privatefly.com PrivateFly.com is an award-winning, free online marketing platform for charter operators, connecting them seamlessly with private jet customers and travel agents. It has been developed specifically to simplify the process of quoting for and booking private jet charter. Operators can log in to see customer flight requests and quickly submit a quote, which will automatically include their full aircraft specification and images.

RAF NORTHOLT BOOTH: 4 Telephone: +44 20 8833 8918 Web: www.raf.mod.uk/rafnortholt/ RAF Northolt is the perfect destination for those

Taxation, training and customer perceptions fall under the spotlight

Looking to buy a

pre-owned business aircraft?

Aircraft Shopper Online The Aircraft Market in Real Time

This year's free to attend BGAD seminars are being presented in a joint initiative by trade associations British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) and Baltic Air Charter Association (BACA).

The programme has been designed to fit into BGAD's one day presentation, and includes informative and valuable morning and afternoon sessions.

The schedule is as follows:

®

MORNING SESSION 11:00-12:30 ■

The changing buying habits of the business aviation customer

www.ASO.com

Julian Burrell, Vertis Aviation Richard Koe, WingX ■

Taxation by another name – the introduction of ETS, APD and two more new charges being considered for our sector

■

The changing buying habits of the business aviation customer

Panel lead: Carol Cork, PrivateFly Panel: Phil Brockwell, Centreline Air Charter Bernard Fragner, GlobeAir James Leach, Air Charter Service

ASO has worldwide for sale listings of business jets and turbo-props that will meet every mission profile. With thousands of listings, ASO.com is the most up to date and comprehensive online marketplace for pre-owned business aircraft. With powerful search capabilities, cus-

• Border Force cost recovery • Full fuel duty relief used in air navigation and navigation within ■ Business aviation – do we need to EU waters manage the perception of our sector?

• The Court of Justice of European Panel lead: Brian Humphries, EBAA Union and its ruling that the exemption should only apply to Panel: commercial airlines.

Alex Berry, Chapman Freeborn

tomized aircraft email alerts and enhanced buying tools, ASO is the best place to find your next aircraft. Spend

Lead: Marc Bailey, BBGA

AFTERNOON SESSION 14:00-15:30 ■ CAA update for business aviation sector

■

less time searching and more time choosing the business aircraft that’s right for you.

Lead:

Carol Leach, AQMS, and Marc Bailey, BBGA • National skills council for aviation services • GTAs and current developments • Accreditation of qualifications to support professional licences • Development of national occupational standards to support the new skills of continued airworthiness • Skills shortages for SMEs and micros

Buyers use ASO For more information call +1-732-704-9561 or visit us at www.aso.com

A

Jacky Mills, CAA • Describe the work of the BASP • Significant Seven areas applicable to business aviation.

• The SARG organisation ■

Flight data monitoring – the CASE project and benefits for your SMS Lead: Malcolm Rusby and CASE team

Training for our sector

Leads:

BOOTH: 49 Telephone: +44 3300 555 777 Email: info@roamingexpert.com Web: www.roamingexpert.aero RoamingExpert.aero provides business mobile phone contracts for companies that spend time overseas. It specialises in reducing a company’s roaming rates and therefore reducing costs significantly for companies with a global footprint.

On average it saves its customers between 20-50 per cent on their bills. RoamingExpert has the flexibility to be able to put bespoke packages together for customers depending on where they go and what their usage is. It says its customer service is unrivalled and that it will continually analyse bills to ensure continued savings and impeccable service.

ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY BOOTH: 42 Telephone: +44 20 7670 4300 Email: raes@aerosociety.com Web: www.aerosociety.com The Royal Aeronautical Society says it is the world’s only professional body dedicated to the entire aerospace community. Established in 1866 to further the art, science and engineering of aeronautics, the society has been at the forefront of developments ever since. As a multidisciplinary organisation, there is a place within the membership for anyone working, or interested, in the aeronautical, aviation and aerospace sectors.

The society’s membership profile is drawn from a diverse range of organisations and fields of expertise including engineering, design, aircrew and air traffic control, along with professions that serve the aerospace, aviation and space industries: law, finance, marketing and recruitment.

SAXONAIR CHARTER BOOTH: 50 Telephone: +44 845 155 6222 Email: ops@saxonair.com Web: www.saxonair.com SaxonAir Charter Ltd offers a bespoke private air charter service from airports throughout the UK and Europe with a variety of aircraft, ranging from executive turboprops to the latest modern business jets.

SAXONAIR FLIGHT SUPPORT BOOTH: 50 Telephone: +44 1603 510 110 Email: handling@saxonair.com Web: www.saxonair.com SaxonAir Flight Support Ltd provides a dedicated ground handling service for all private and business aviation at Norwich Airport, handling everything from light aircraft to the largest business jets.

SHELL AVIATION BOOTH: 30 - GOLD SPONSOR Telephone: +44 207 934 4392 Email: sav-global-web@shell.com Web: www.shell.com/aviation Shell Aviation is proud to be the gold sponsor of this year’s BGAD. Shell has enjoyed a long association with Cambridge Airport and Marshall Aerospace and this is an ideal opportunity for it to showcase its increasing range of business and general aviation products to the business aviation community. BGAD coincides with the launch of Shell’s new vip service being introduced at Copenhagen’s Kastrup FBO – a way of partnering with the very best FBOs in its network to provide a gold standard service to its customers.

THE LONDON HELIPORT BOOTH: 28 Telephone: +44 20 7228 0181 Email: info@londonheliport.co.uk Web: www.londonheliport.co.uk The London Heliport is the capital’s only licensed heliport, established over 50 years ago. Accessible from 07:00 to 23:00, seven days a week, the heliport offers discreet handling services. It has catered for numerous celebrities, dignitaries, heads of state and business leaders on a routine basis. Since being acquired in February 2012 by the owners of London Oxford Airport, incentives are now available with heavily discounted fees for users of both ports.

TIM LEACOCK AIRCRAFT SALES BOOTH: 52 + STATIC Telephone: +44 1258 818 181 Email: tim@timleacockaircraft.com Web: www.timleacockaircraft.com Established in 1980, Tim Leacock Aircraft Sales Ltd says it is recognised as the premier business aviation and corporate jet dealer for the UK. Its good reputation has consistently increased through 30 years of business aircraft sales, concentrating on close attention to detail and

EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2013 15

Marketplace Contact Mark Ranger on: +44 (0)1279 714509 mark@ebanmagazine.com S76C+

Jump Seat. Contact Andrew Pearce, tel: +44 (0) 1279 661188 Innotech-Execaire Aviation (UK). Web: www.execairejetsales.com. Email: andrew.pearce@innotech-execaire.com

Aircraft for sale Be one of the first to step inside the G280 on UK soil at this year’s BGAD.

Step aboard the G280 Gulfstream’s new super mid-sized G280 will make its UK debut at this year’s BGAD. The aircraft has more than 30 city-pair speed records to its name and offers a range of 3,600nm at Mach 0.80.

Gulfstream says it is the only super mid-sized aircraft that can travel from London to New York at any time of the year. It can also connect London with Montreal or Bermuda.

The G280 is equipped with PlaneView280 cockpit, said to be one of the most advanced flight decks in its class. The system improves safety through reduced pilot workload and enhanced situational awareness. The aircraft is environmentally efficient, burning less fuel and producing fewer emissions than other super mid-sized aircraft. It is also quiet, with certified noise levels 15.8dB below FAA Stage 4 requirements.

Seating for up to 10 in two living areas is on offer. Passengers have in-flight access to the baggage compartment and the Gulfstream cabin management system enables them to control the cabin environment and entertainment equipment with a handheld device such as an iPod Touch. providing a seamless path to aircraft ownership.

Focusing on customer needs and support, the company has built a large and loyal client base, for which it is a trusted repeat supplier. With its recent appointment as the exclusive UK independent authorised sales representative for Gulfstream Aerospace, coupled with a new generation of Leacock personnel, Tim Leacock Aircraft Sales Ltd says it will continue to be the industry standard for many years to come.

VIRTUAL AVIATION BOOTH: 37 Telephone: +44 370 350 0747 Email: info@virtualaviation.co.uk Web: www.virtualaviation.co.uk Virtual Aviation has been in business for 16 years, offering simulator training for individual commercial pilots and experiences for the public of the highest quality. It now has its own Boeing 737-800 flight simulator based at Cambridge Airport, alongside its head office. It is the newest and most advanced simulator of its type and is due to be joined by an Airbus 320 in 2014. Virtual Aviation also operates a large fleet of airline-owned Airbus and Boeing full flight simulators at Gatwick, Manchester and Southampton.

Special packages are available for advertising aircraft for sale in EBAN and on our web site (www.ebanmagazine.com). Picture adverts (40 words of text plus colour picture) cost £75 each.

You can also choose our new display advertising option for larger inventories.

BOMBARDIER

Challenger 601-3A(ER) 1990, S/N: 5069 7,532 total hours, 4,758 total landings. 10 passenger interior inc. forward cabin club 4, rear cabin 2 single club opposite 4 place belted divan.

Extended cabin with unique forward lavatory and aft galley. Interior refurbished in 2010. 120 month, 240 month inspections complied with and landing gear overhauled in 2010. Engines and APU enrolled on JSSI. Engines overhauled April 2008. On Smart Parts.

For immediate sale. Contact Andrew Pearce, tel: +44 (0) 1279 661188 Innotech-Execaire Aviation (UK). Web: www.execairejetsales.com. Email: andrew.pearce@innotech-execaire.com

CESSNA

SIKORSKY Citation Ultra Citation Ultras available. 17 sold with 8 remaining. Honeywell Primus 1000 3Tube EFIS, Honeywell GNS-XLS FMS, Honeywell MKVII EGPWS, Honeywell TCAS II w/Change 7, w/ski tube.

Recently Permaguard. Recently refreshed interior. Fresh phase 1-5. Zero engine option. Tel: +1 403 291 9027 John Hopkinson & Associates. Web: www.hopkinsonassociates.com. Email: sales@hopkinsonassociates.com

Citation XLS S/N: 5668 TTAF: 3,084. Fully EASA EUOPS1 compliant. CESCOM, MSG-3 maintenance programme, engines on JSSI – Premium, APU on JSSI. Contact Andrew Pearce, tel: +44 (0) 1279 661188 Innotech-Execaire Aviation (UK). Web: www.execairejetsales.com. Email: andrew.pearce@innotech-execaire.com

S76C+

1999, S/N: 760502. T/T 7,600. Turbomeca Power by the Hour, Sikorsky PAP Gear Box, Sikorsky Total Assurance programmes. IIDS, Four Blade Articulated Main Rotor System, Dual Controls, 28 Volt Electrical System with two 200 Amp Starter/Generators, 291 Gallon Usable Fuel, Dual Windshield Wipers, Bleed Air Heating and Defogging, Large Cabin Area, 38 Cubic Foot Baggage Compartment. Contact George Reenstra Tel: +1 201 906 1411 Helicopter Resales. Web: www.helicopterresales.com.

Email: george@yourjet.com

S76C+

1996, S/N: 760457. T/T: 2,700. Nose mounting radome. Nose and tail avionics compartments. Heated glass windshield with defogging system. Cockpit/cabin bleed-air heating system. Fully retractable tricycle landing gear with pivoting nose. Provisions for emergency flotation system with float bottle access covers. Separate 38 cubic floor baggage compartment with dual lockable doors. 6 pax VIP version. Helicopter Resales. Web: www.helicopterresales.com. Email: george@yourjet.com

GULFSTREAM

WE HELP AVIATION SALES PROFESSIONALS GENERATE DEALS

Citation Bravo 2000, 2,000 TT: 630 hrs, Cycles: 1,108.

Honeywell Primus 1000 3-tube EFIS, Honeywell GNS-XLS FMS, Allied Signal EGPWS, Allied Signal TCAS II w/change 7, UK mods and currently on N reg., Fresh Phase 1-5 Tel. +44 (0) 1534 483372 Email: david.cuthbert@hotmail.co.uk

IVSP S/N: 1437 TTAF: 4,791. Part 135 – US registered aircraft. Engine mid-lLife completed March 2010. MSG-3 maintenance, 150 APU upgrade on MSP Gold, EGPWS with RAAS, forward and aft lavatories, cabin WIFI, I-Pod station & VOIP, excellently appointed AFT galley.

EUROPE MIDDLE EAST RUSSIA AFRICA

AMSTAT PROVIDES INDUSTRY LEADING CORPORATE AIRCRAFT MARKET & FLEET DATA Jets Turboprops Turbine Helicopters In a suite of comprehensive services to meet every business need

Using a globally focused, multi-lingual research team, and a unique combination of live data

WORLD FUEL SERVICES

and portability, AMSTAT provides the most timely

BOOTH: 12 Telephone: +1 305 428 8000 Email: businessaviationsalesteam@wfscorp.com Web: www.wfscorp.com

and accurate market information available.

More importantly, AMSTAT provides the tools

See Baseops entry on page 13.

needed to convert that information into effective

ZENON RECRUITMENT

marketing

BOOTH: 13/14 Telephone: +44 1483 332 000 Email: sales@zenon.aero Web: www.zenon.aero Zenon Recruitment Ltd is one of the world’s fastest growing specialist suppliers of skilled personnel to the aviation industry. Its directors and consultants have in excess of 40 years aviation recruitment experience providing support and consultancy to a worldwide client base. Its extensive experience has been built up over many years by managing both small and large recruitment campaigns – anything from the head hunting of senior executives and operations and sales staff through to the recruitment and vetting of type rated pilots and licensed engineers. It specialises in recruiting personnel for corporate and vip jet operators, TRTOs, airlines, aircraft charter and sales brokers, and helicopter companies. ■

2003, S/N: 760533. T/T: 839. Deluxe VIP interior featuring Cocoon interior shell with Isolator mounting. NDH. Collins ProLine II avionics, Universal UNS - IF FMS. SATCOM, AirCell ST 3100 Iridium system Garmin GPS – 500 moving map/GPS. Sikorsky emergency float system. Contact George Reenstra Tel: +1 201 906 1411 Helicopter Resales. Web: www.helicopterresales.com. Email: george@yourjet.com

programs

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Trust EBAN to deliver www.ebanmagazine.com

Information that moves you forward

US 1 877 426 7828 I Int’l +1 732 530 6400 I www.amstatcorp.com

Business Aviation’s Choice for .European Skies.

Legendary aircraft. Ready for the future.

The Beechcraft King Air has become the most popular business aircraft in the skies over Europe today.* What’s more, these safe, efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft also proudly help lead the way to the promise of better European skies. Beechcraft is setting the standard for quality, performance and craftsmanship continues to deliver. Today. And tomorrow.

Visit us at Beechcraft.com.

For more info, please contact: EMEA +44(0) 1244.523.804 or EMEA_AircraftSales@beechcraft.com

©2013 Beechcraft Corporation. All rights reserved. Beechcraft is a registered trademark of Beechcraft Corporation. *Source: Eurocontrol.