Alliances may be key to unlock charter success

This has been an exceptional year for SladeThomas, whose Ireland and South Africa-based Starlite Aviation has become the launchcustomer for the latest variant of the SuperPuma helicopter. See full story on page 6.

Perfect Aviationlaunches AOC

support service

A panel of leading charteroperators at the CEPA Expo inPrague recently agreed that theair charter market in thecentral European region is setto grow in coming years, butpondered whether cooperationbetween operators would helpto increase efficiency.

London Executive Aviation’sPatrick Margetson-Rushmorereported having already seen a70 per cent increase in itsbusiness in CEE countries inrecent years, and a 25 per centincrease in 2012 alone. LEAoperates a Challenger 300 and

a Legacy into the region. Themost common destinations arePoland, Croatia, Montenegroand the Czech Republic, hesays, and the direction of travelis east to west, rather than west to east.

Bernhard Fragner ofGlobeAir pointed out thataround two thirds of bookingscome via brokers, andidentified the routes attractingincreasing traffic as Bucharest,Budapest and Croatia, ratherthan the most establisheddestinations.

Indeed Jaroslav Malinsky of

VR Jet, which is based inBratislava, reported that hiscompany is taking business

from Vienna due to the lack ofrestrictions at Bratislavaairport. Vienna is a verycompetitive location andoperators not already basedthere would not attempt toenter the market, he believes.

VR Jet has found thatpassengers are currently down-grading the size of the aircraftrequired for aircraft charter,and that price seems to be thedriving factor – with operatorsdifferentiating by providinggood service and a goodrelationship between thepassengers and crew. Seventy

per cent of the company’sservices are corporate flightswith the rest short-termbookings and ad-hoc.

The panel looked to thefuture to see how air charteroperators might developservices to increase business. Itwas suggested that operatoralliances could be formed inthe region to help reduce costs,and that the standard ofonboard catering should beone of the main focuses whenconsidering passengers’quality requirements.

The ongoing financial crisis affecting mostof Europe, coupled with the mass of newregulations that continue to emanate fromBrussels, is placing more and more financialpressure on the small and medium size AOCoperators. So says UK charter operatorPerfect Aviation as it urges its peers toconsider the benefits of collaboration.

Perfect Aviation believes that, ifoperators are to survive, the time has comefor some innovative thinking. It hastherefore announced a new flight planningand AOC support service.

Business development manager PaulForster explains: “We are pleased to offerthis service to third-party operators who areseeking to reduce or contain their costs.

“We have a highly trained team ofprofessional and fully licensed INAC/EASAaircraft dispatchers who are available on a24/7 basis to oversee all aspects of flightplanning, flight following and operationalsupport. Our concept is to provide an AOCcompetent dispatch department to thirdparty operators pursuant to a service level agreement.”

Forster adds: “Flight planning and flightfollowing and reporting functions will beprovided to operators as if it were beingmade through their own flight dispatchdepartment. With full competency inrespect of EASA flight crew regulations andother relevant regulations, Perfect canprovide a real cost saving to operatorsrequiring a 24/7 flight operations functionbut perhaps struggling to justify the costs ofemploying staffing to cover it.

“Since I joined Perfect one of the mostimpressive areas that I have noted is ourdispatch team, they have never failed toobtain permits or over-flight clearances,some of which have been in very remote ordifficult areas. The team has always beentotally up-to-date on everything that ishappening around the globe and this type ofservice is vital for every flight crew memberand to the operator wanting to ensure thevery best levels of service to the client.”

Starlite focus ison Europe with

latest Super Puma

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Businessaviation at thecrossroads –how the MiddleEast andEurope interact

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The big news this month isundoubtedly the record-breakingorder for aircraft placed by VistaJet(see story page 8), which isundertaking this major fleet renewaland expansion programme on thebasis of increasing world demand forlong-range business charter to far-flung destinations – especiallyoriginating from emerging marketswhere the company has beenestablishing local connections.

VistaJet is of the opinion thatmajor corporations will increasinglylook for the flexibility and low capitaloutlay of charter, rather than

committing to aircraft ownership orbuying fractions.

NetJets understandably seesthings differently. Its order for newaircraft earlier this year was only awhisker lower in value than that ofVistaJet, and belies a firm convictionthat fractional ownership is here tostay. With a much larger fleet, nowapproaching 400 aircraft, and anorder backlog even larger than that,they may be on to something.

Despite these major expressionsof confidence, those of us trackingnew aircraft deliveries moregenerally will have noticed that the

numbers have been flat over the pastyear or two at best.

But what does all this mean forbusiness aviation in a wider contextas we head into another new year?

VistaJet and NetJets may have

little in common when it comes totheir business models, but they arealike in one important respect, andthat is size.

It certainly seems that the largestoperators are able to broker gooddeals on new aircraft purchases andbenefit from economies of scale,while smaller ones are finding thecurrent economic situation moretaxing. It is also evident that thoseoperators with larger and longer-range aircraft are generally doingrather better than those with lightjets. The fact that the economieswhich are still growing fastest are

those which are keen to investoverseas, and that the highest networth individuals, biggest corpora-tions and national governments arethose which still have the budget forbusiness aviation, makes this trendinevitable for the time being.

But these things are cyclical. Wewill all be hoping for an increase inflight hours across the board during2013, and those operators picking upnew business will be leaner and fitterthan ever. So, on behalf of everyonehere at EBAN I wish all our readers avery happy and successful new year.

David Wright, Editor

Multi-billion dollar orders boost business aviation confidenceEDITORIAL COMMENT

Alliances may be key to unlockcharter successContinued from front page

Margetson-Rushmore believes that inthe next three years LEA will seefurther changes in attitude andapproach from the CEE region’s FBOs and handling businesses, andthat the area will be fertile ground for manufacturers looking to sell new aircraft.

The view from all was that themarket will increase with bothpassenger demand and aircraft

numbers growing.Communications during the CEPA

Expo were aided by ‘Cepenger’, a real-time messaging facility, and this issaid to have been widely used. Thetechnology, which has not been usedbefore in the industry, allowed thedelegates to make comments and askquestions without interrupting thespeakers, the messages appearing onthe screen above the stage. The chairof the panel then used the commentsto add to the speeches and panels.

Other presentations during the

three-day conference included acharter market forecast for 2013 byMagnus Henrikson of AvinodeBusiness Intelligence. He observedthat the CEE market is highly relianton non-domestic travel; that it is andwill continue to be affected by thewider European economy; and thatthe domestic CEE market is strugglingand not contributing to growth.

Avinode has also identified centralEurope as a price-sensitive marketwith a high utilisation of smallaircraft, with short trips for more

Presenting their thoughts about ‘selling aircraft charter’ at the CEPA conference were GlobeAir ceo Bernhard Fragner, LondonExecutive Aviation ceo Patrick Margetson-Rushmore, VR Jet ceo Jaroslav Malinsky, Brendan Lodge, CEPA chairman and businessdevelopment director Jet Brokers Europe, and past chairman of CEPA Jiri Matousek.

Research from Hawker BeechcraftCorporation has revealed thatdemand for business aircraft incentral Europe has increaseddramatically over the last decade.When compared with the period2002-2006, deliveries of businessaircraft during 2007-2011increased by 291 per cent acrossthe region, compared to 31 percent for the global market.

The research, conducted tocoincide with the CEPA Expo, alsoreveals that nearly half of allbusiness aircraft based in centralEurope have been delivered in thelast five years. Slovenia, the SlovakRepublic and Bulgaria have beenat the forefront of this surge indemand, with deliveriesincreasing by 700 per cent, 700per cent and 350 per centrespectively between the periods.

“The business aviation markethere has grown rapidly over thelast five years, albeit from a lowbase, and we maintain ourpositive outlook on what we viewas an important region in Europe,where upcoming economies willcontinue to present attractiveopportunities for businessaviation,” says Scott Plumb, vp jetsales EMEA.

Demand forbusiness aviationis growing fast

Perfect Aviation launches AOCsupport serviceContinued from front page

Clients will have immediate real-timesecure access to their planning andregulatory data via a bespoke data-centric web based flight managementsoftware system.

Perfect believes that by workingtogether operators will benefit fromreduced overheads while gainingaccess to a larger fleet of aircraft andadditional joint resources.

Forster continues: “It is going totake several years for our market torecover fully and quite frankly, unlessthey take appropriate action, someoperators will not survive. At themoment we have too many operatorschasing too few clients and aircraftmanagement fees are much weaker.Operators are slashing prices to winjobs in order to tread water. That is

not a great strategy, as it presents falseexpectations of prices to the clientsand ultimately damages the recoveryof pricing.

“Many are worried about handingclient information to their proposedpartners; I would counter that bysaying that we have all been workingwith brokers for a very long time andthe professional operators havenever had an issue. We all knowwhere our business comes from, soto poach a client would becommercial suicide and the samewould obviously apply to workingwith a partner company.

“We are talking to both AOCoperators and private individuals. It isideal for the private operator whowould like the level of support you getfrom commercial operations butwithout the massive monthly billassociated with some of the largeorganisations,” Forster concludes.

passengers indicating cautiousbuyers. It is a fragmented market,says Henrikson, and business jetcharter in the south east of the CEEregion is under-developed. “There isroom for growth!” he says.

The future market potential wasexplored in more detail at a furtherpanel session involving Ross Mitchell,sales director at Bombardier, AmmrShaladi, md of Vibro-Air Flugservice,Nick Fitzpatrick, ceo of Atron.

It was noted that customers foraircraft in the CEE are coming fromthe ranks of high net-worthindividuals (HNWI) as in the westand, although the numbers aresmaller, they are growing year onyear. HNWI are a growing class in theCEE with the younger client havingthe will to buy aircraft while the olderare more reluctant and prefer charterand fractional ownership. Largeindustry is missing in the CEE as acustomer base and that which doesexist is largely government owned.

The panelists noted that smalleraircraft are more in demand than inthe west, with Learjet models andChallenger 300 popular, as mosttravel takes place to other Europeancountries and Russia. The VLJ marketis reducing and customers aretravelling commercial instead. Thenumber of aircraft based in the CEE ismore than some reports would haveit, as some of the many based aircraftare not registered in the region.

All agreed that keeping costs downis key to operators, and that centraland eastern European operatorsshould work together to achieve morecost reductions.

4 DECEMBER 2012 EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

Qatar Executive beat stiff competitionto pick up a coveted accolade at anawards evening in Dubai attended byleading figures from across theregional travel and aviation industry.

Qatar Airways’ corporate jetdivision was named best businessaviation operator of 2012 by MiddleEast industry publication AviationBusiness, an award traditionally givento the company that consistentlydelivers world class service and excelsthrough key achievements and solidbusiness strategies.

Delivering a superior inflightexperience and accomplishmentssuch as a recent partnership with

fractional jet programme providerFlexjet, plus the company’sappointment by Bombardier as anauthorised service facility, were allcited as reasons for the award.

Qatar Airways ceo Akbar Al Bakersays: “We operate in a competitivebusiness aviation market with impre-ssive players across the region, sowinning this award is testament to thehard work we’ve put into our corporatejet division in a short space of time.”

Headquartered at Doha Inter-national Airport, Qatar Executiveoffers jet charter to Europe, Asia,North America, Africa, Australia andthe Middle East.

Qatar Executive’s performancenets coveted industry award

Qatar Executive’s evp Tilmann Gabriel receives the award on behalf of Qatar Airwaysceo Akbar Al Baker.

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ExecuJet Africa has teamed up withAcher Aviation, the South African off-shore helicopter operator, to offer a range of services includinghelicopter management and charter,as well as specialised support to theoil, gas, mining and resourceexploration sectors.

ExecuJet’s fleet now includes threehelicopters from Acher Aviation,including a Bell 407, an Agusta 109Power and the Eurocopter EC130,plus access to other models. The six-passenger Eurocopter EC130 iscurrently based at ExecuJet’s Lanseriafacility and completed its first charterflight during November.

The specialised services availableto the oil, gas and mining sectorsinclude hoisting operations, oil

pipeline inspections, equipment andcargo transportation, and remotelocation support.

“ExecuJet is continuouslyexploring solutions for the businessand private charter industry and theinclusion of helicopters within thefleet is a welcome addition to ourworld-class business and private

charter services,” says Chris Frost,charter business developmentmanager, ExecuJet Africa. “We believeour helicopter charter andmanagement services will be ofparticular interest to our customersin the mining sector, due to theremote areas and harsh conditions inwhich employees have to operate.”

The company says that its clientswill have access to all the benefits of helicopter ownership without the time-consuming managementresponsibilities. The companyensures that matters such as aviationlegislation compliance, aircraftmaintenance coordination, staffrecruitment and productive aircraftoperation are effectively andefficiently managed.

ExecuJet Africa teams up to addhelicopters to its charter fleet

Helicopters join ExecuJet Africa’s roster.

Amjet Executive SA has added amanaged Greek-registered Falcon900DX to its AOC, bringing its fleet oflong-range and large aircraft up tofour in total. It will be based betweenEurope and Africa, and has alreadyentered service.

The company is gaining areputation as a specialist Falconoperator and is growing fast. Thelatest addition joins a 2000LX and 7Xalongside an MD-83. A Falcon 50,another 900 and another 7X, all in vipconfiguration, are expected to beincluded soon in the company’s AOC.

Amjet has also been extending its maintenance capabilities. It canprovide contracted and sub-contracted CAMO services, as well as line maintenance, to otheroperators of the MD-83, Falcon2000LX, 7X and 900DX aircraft types.

Christian Loiseau attributes thecompany’s success to its modest size.“We are still a boutique-sizedcompany,” he says. “As a cons-equence, we are able to maintain avery close relationship with ourowners, offering them dedicated andbespoke ownership programmes.”

Bespoke services bringFalcons to Amjet’s door

Amjet’s Falcon 900DX is the fourth long-range aircraft in its current fleet.

Angola-based operator Best FlyWorldwide has placed a GulfstreamG450 on the Aruba register, with ahome base of Luanda.

The company already operates aBermudan-registered Challenger605, the maintenance for which iscarried out under a CAMO contractby Primus Aircraft ManagementSolutions. “We look forward to a longand fruitful relationship with ournew customer Best Fly,” the companysays. “By winning this contract wehave been able to set our foot on theAfrican continent with its rapidlygrowing business aviation.”

Best Fly ceo Nuno Pereira islooking to the future, saying: “Wereally look forward to a prolificrelationship with Primus.”

Best Fly is a member of theEmerald Group, the presence ofwhich in the aviation sector wasinitially driven by internal needs to support oil and gas operations. Itstarted simply with an aircraftoperation that included main-tenance services.

However, it reports that the size,competence level and servicediversity in this business sector has

reached such great heights that itbecame a stand-alone operationwithin the group. It has a hugegrowth potential, both by thenumber of identified opportunitiesin the market and by the value theyrepresent, Emerald says.

The aviation division includesAirTwo, which is dedicated to theoperation and maintenance ofaircraft based at Luanda Airport andto charter flights and executive or private jets flying to or in Angola.This operation is in the process of becoming certified as acommercial air transport operatorwith Angola’s CAA.

It also comprises AirTravel, abusiness corporate travel servicesagency and private concierge, andBest Fly Flight Support, which has ateam of experienced professionals,with 8,000 flight hours and previousexperience with NetJets.

“Bringing together synergies toimprove areas such as flightoperations dispatch for domestic andinternational flights, it operates inthe area of handling, management ofterminals and catering,” thecompany says.

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DECEMBER 2012 5EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS 5

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Murray Law and Dustin Dryden shake hands on the acquisition deal.

International JetClub acquisitiontakes Hangar8 fleet to fifty

Hangar8, already one of Europe’s largestoperators of privately owned aircraft, hasacquired established aircraft managementcompany International JetClub.

The company, which has announced year-end results showing a 32 per cent increase ingross profits to £4.9m, acquired Farnborough-based IJC for a total consideration of £1.1million in cash and the issue of 500,000ordinary shares in Hangar8.

The acquisition takes the company’snumber of aircraft under management from 40to 50 (four of which are helicopters), 44 percent of which are heavy, long range jets. Theacquisition will also see IJC’s staff complement,including experienced flight support teams,flight crews and technicians, incorporated intothe Hangar8 team.

Dustin Dryden, Hangar8 ceo, says: “Thisdevelopment is hugely significant for ourowners, passengers and shareholders as itfurther moves the company towards its goal ofproviding maximum global reach and scale,more long range, heavy aircraft, and enhancesthe expertise and capabilities of our business.

“As our results have shown, Hangar8 hasdelivered consistently on its targets ofincreasing its global bases and destinations,bringing engineering provision in-house andincreasing the size of its fleet while delivering ahealthy, profitable business. The acquisition ofIJC will ensure that we continue to deliver thisand more in the coming years.”

Chairman, founder and owner of IJC Murray Law will become vice chairman ofHangar8 and will play an ongoing role in thebusiness, with specific responsibilitiessurrounding management development,systems and integration.

The two businesses will continue to operateas they are both successfully doing for a period of no less than six months during whichperiod there will be an assessment of the twoinfrastructures to determine best practices forthe combined company.

Commenting on the acquisition Law says:“This development brings together two alreadysuccessful and complementary businesses,each with their own skill sets, different fleet

profiles and technical expertise grown over 14years of experience in hands-on operations. IJChas been operating and managing long rangeaircraft worldwide for many loyal, long-standing client owners. The bringing togetherof these two operations gives us a perfectopportunity and combined skilled resource togive both the benefit of leading edge practicesin areas such as safety management systemsand international network growth. We will befocussed on raising the bar in our industry –not about cutting costs and corners in a toughglobal economy. All our clients will benefitfrom the greater strength, scale and depth ofthe combined businesses.”

IJC has provided high-end managementand charter services to ultra-high net worthowners of large private jet aircraft since 1998.

Hangar8 has bases in the UK, Malta, Nigeria,DRC, Kazakhstan and South Africa and offersjet operation and management, charter and in-house aircraft engineering services.

It has recently entered into a commercialagreement with Jersey airport to construct afixed base hangar operation there.

The development, which is subject toplanning permission, will involve theconstruction of a new 55,000 sq ft hangar that will enable Hangar8 to provide handlingand maintenance operations to private jetcustomers on the island.

The planning application is likely to besubmitted in the first quarter of 2013 and thefacility will commence operations in 2014.Further updates on its progress will be made indue course.

“This agreement represents a significantrevenue and growth opportunity for Hangar8and is in line with our strategic objective ofgrowing profitability into economicallyadvantageous geographical areas,” saysDryden. “The presence of a state-of-the-artfixed operation in Jersey will not only allowHangar8 to further expand its offering to itsexisting global client base, but will alsofacilitate incremental growth in our aircraftmanagement, charter and maintenancebusiness through relationships with Jersey’ssignificant private aviation market.”

Swedish SAR AW139s equipped for icing and all-weather conditions

The Swedish MaritimeAdministration is to add sevenAW139 intermediate twinhelicopters to its fleetproviding maritime andaeronautical SAR from fivebases across the country.

First delivery of the SAR-equipped aircraft is scheduledfor spring 2013, with the finalone arriving in 2014.

AgustaWestland md forinternational business GeoffHoon says: “We are delightedthat the Swedish MaritimeAdministration has chosen

the AW139 following adetailed evaluation process.”

More than 500 AW139s arenow in service performingmany roles including SAR, airambulance, offshore trans-

port, vip/corporate flights,law enforcement and militarytransport missions.

For SAR missions, theaircraft’s long range and all-weather operational capa-bility are key advantages.

The Swedish organisation’sAW139s will come equippedwith a unique full iceprotection system allowingflights into known icingconditions and enabling allweather operations, whenother types might be confinedto the hangar.

Over 500 AW139s are now inservice.

Air Business International is nottaking the economic problemscurrently self-evident in Greece lyingdown. Instead it plans to introduce ahelicopter charter initiative forAthens during the winter months.

Aircraft charter coordinator DanaeTsadila says: “There is a major projectof re-designing Athens to become amajor city destination and in linewith this, ABl is organising a co-ordinated project for helicoptersightseeing flights over the city for thefirst time.”

Tsadila believes that Greece mayhave earned a negative reputationthrough the media due to its financialrecession and concerns regarding thetourist season: “Such projects takingplace under these circumstances, andhow businesses from the tourism andaviation industries respond to them,could be of interest to the Europeanaviation sector.

“In a time of deep economicrecession, Athens must find adifferent way to solve its problemsand claim a place among today’smajor European cities.”

She adds: “Within the frameworkof its public charitable activity, the

Onassis Foundation is responding to the present need for a revitali-sation project by funding andorganising a European architecturalcompetition for the creation of a newcity centre. Supported by theEuropean Union, the objective of thisinitiative is to improve the everydaylife of Athenian citizens. Its main goalis to stop the increasing downgradingand revive the historically and

culturally highly valued centre ofAthens in a more people-friendly,sustainable place. Apart fromincreasing the quality of Athenian life,this project will add value to thetourism sector of the city, high-lighting its archeological, historicaland cultural heritage.”

In line with this project, AirBusiness International, a companywith more than 30 years of experience

in the aviation sector in Greece, isaiming to enhance tourism in Athensby organising a coordinated networkfor helicopter sightseeing tours allover Athens.

“It is well-known that Greektourism suffers from seasonality,”says Tsadila, “being busy during thethree summer months from June toAugust, but with the rest of the yearfalling into hibernation.

“However, Athens has a lot to offerto its visitors the whole year round,taking also into consideration its mildclimate, clear sky and sunshine mostof the time, giving the perfectopportunity for helicopter rides allover the city.”

Visitors will have the chance tohave a panoramic view of the mostimportant monuments of Greekcivilisation, such as the Acropolis, theOlympic stadium, Panathinaikonstadium and Lycabetus Hill, as well asof the stunning Athenian coastline insightseeing flights of 30 minutes or 60 minutes.

For the first time, says ABI,organised sightseeing tours will be atthe disposal of any visitors who wishto experience something different.

6 DECEMBER 2012 EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

Despite continued politicalinstability in the Middle East and highoil prices, NasJet has seen revenueimprove by six per cent in 2012, withan expected increase of 20 per centfor 2013.

NasJet, the largest private jetcompany in the Middle East,announced revenues exceeding500m SAR (approximately $130m) for2012. These results follow 13 years of operation, built on a solidfoundation supported by a managedfleet of 65 aircraft exceeding a retailvalue of $1.5 billion.

“Regionally, we are recognised forour operational excellence and long-standing track record for deliveringtangible economy of scale financialbenefits to our clients,” says JamesDailey, NasJet coo.

The company employs more than300 aviation experts of which 120include full-time pilots based at itsRiyadh headquarters.

Sulaiman Al Hamdan, ceo of NasHolding, congratulated the NasJetteam for driving growth in a sectorwhich continues to remainchallenging, compounded byescalating operating costs.

As part of a core strategy, thecompany will continue to focus onmanaging long range, wide cabinaircraft. “We are strategicallypositioned to operate a significantproportion of new aircraft deliveriesinto the Middle East over the next fiveyears and to rival the largeinternational operators in terms offleet size,” says director of marketingHardy Sohanpal.

NasJet reveals financial successdespite adverse factors

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ABI to play its part in the revitalisation of Athens

Starlite Aviation Group has orderedtwo AS332 C1e helicopters, the latestversion of the Eurocopter Super Pumamedium-weight helicopter, withoptions on two more. Acquired as partof a fleet renewal and expansionprogramme, first deliveries areexpected before the end of 2013,following EASA and FAA certification.

Based in Ireland and South Africa,Starlite offers helicopter services tointernational clients such as UNagencies and NGOs for peace keepingor logistic support missions involvingtransportation of passengers andfreight, heavy load aerial work,surveillance and executive transport.

“After 12 years of Puma operationsin austere environments all over theworld, Starlite is convinced that theSuper Puma AS332 C1e is the onlynew product on the market able tomeet the requirements of thecommercial medium-heavy utilitymarket,” says ceo Slade Thomas,pictured on the front cover. “It is anhonour to be the launch customer ofthis new version.”

It includes a specific configurationoffering shorter lead times and comp-etitive operational and maintenancecosts. Long range capabilities, power,speed and large useful payload of upto 4.3 tons make it suitable formissions such as equipment andpassenger transport as well as SAR.

Fabrice Arfi, Eurocopter Grouphead of business development, says:“Starlite has demonstrated a highlevel of expertise carrying out verydemanding missions in difficultenvironments and we know that theywill continue to be successful withthis high-performing helicopter.”

Thomas adds: “This year has beenexceptional for Starlite and has seenthe company secure new contracts ona global basis, including Europe.”

Starlite focus is on Europe

with latest Super Puma

Bond Offshore Helicopters has beenawarded a new contract with PerencoOil and Gas, worth in the region ofUK£37 million, for the provision ofcrew change flights to Perenco’snewly-acquired assets in thesouthern North Sea.

Operations are due to commencefrom Humberside airport in January,with a new-to-fleet AW139 mediumcategory helicopter, for an initialcontract period of three years withoptions to extend. It is expected that up to 15 new posts will be createdat Humberside for the provision ofthe service.

Luke Farajallah, newly-appointedmd of Bond Offshore Helicopters,says: “This is an exciting new win, andreflects in no small part the focus onservice provision and customersupport in our existing work withPerenco Oil and Gas. This will be ourfirst aircraft operating out ofHumberside airport and we verymuch look forward to further growthin order to establish a significantpresence in the area.”

Farajallah brings with him 25 years of aviation experience leadingdifferent functions in a number ofairlines both in the UK and

internationally. Most recently he hasbeen working in Barcelona with anew low-cost airline called Voloteaand prior to this he held senior rolesin Wizz Air, Spanair and at easyJet.

“I believe that Bond OffshoreHelicopters has a fantastic businessproposition combining safety,operational excellence and customerservice to provide reliable missioncritical services of the highest calibre.Its role in crew change transportationand search and rescue is critical to theoil and gas industry and the localcommunity in Aberdeen and I amproud to lead the company forwardthrough its next stages ofdevelopment,” he says.

Interim managing directorMalcolm Paine has returned to hisrole as director of flight operations.

Richard Mintern, ceo for NorthernEurope and Australasia of parentcompany Avincis, says: “Luke takesover at Bond Offshore Helicopters at atime when the industry is facingsignificant logistical challenges. Hissolid industry experience andcreativity will be of great value as thecompany finds customer solutions tothe current lack of capacity in theNorth Sea.”

Nas Holding group ceo Sulaiman Al-Hamdan congratulated the NasJet team fordriving growth.

Bond puts AW139 to workfrom Humberside

Danae Tsadila aims to bring tourists to the skies above Athens.

DECEMBER 2012 7EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

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Starspeed has signed a preliminarysales contract for one AW169 lightintermediate helicopter plus anoption for an additional aircraft. The helicopter will become the firstto perform vip transport missions in the UK.

Gary Butcher, md of Starspeed,says: “The history of corporatehelicopters has so far been a story offinding acceptable compromise, withno single helicopter really standingout as the ideal combination of price,performance and maintainability forthe market. In the AW169, Starspeedrecognises the start of a new chapterin the story of corporate helicopterservices, one where there is nocompromise and every performanceindicator and success factor is builtin, through design and an emphasison customer requirements. TheAW169 is just the product we havebeen waiting for.”

More than 70 AW169 helicoptershave now been ordered for a widerange of missions includingcorporate transport, air ambulance,law enforcement, utility and offshoretransport. With three prototypesalready flying and the fourthprototype expected to take to the airfor the first time in early 2013, theAW169 is on schedule to achievecertification in 2014.

The AgustaWestland plant inYeovil UK is set to play a crucial role in the manufacturing process of theAW169 and the company seesgrowing business opportunities inthe future for civil rotorcraft in the UKhelicopter market.

Starspeedorders vipAW169s

Winners of the prizes given annuallyby the International Travel InsuranceJournal, in eight distinct categories,were revealed during a gala ceremonyat the International Travel InsuranceCongress in Barcelona.

FAI rent-a-jet AG was awarded theprize in the ‘Air ambulance providerof the year’ category in recognition ofits quality focus and its forward-looking overall business concept.

The construction of the new FAIhangar, which brings together aworkforce composed of a variety ofspecialist staff under a singleecologically unique roof, wasespecially recognised. Among theother items highlighted by a jury ofinternational experts in the field of airambulance operation were thesuccessful launch of the Middle Eastair ambulance operations base, thein-house development of medicalinnovations such as the mobilepatient transport system with a viewto improving patient safety, as well asa worldwide service capability,including regular air ambulanceflights from crisis areas.

“This prize goes to all the workersin our company, to the medicalteams, the pilots, the technicians, thedispatchers, and all the others whohave worked hard for a long time inorder for us to reach our currentperformance standards,” says VolkerLemke, a member of FAI’s board ofdirectors, in his acceptance speechafter receiving the prize from thenewly elected co-chair of theEuropean Aeromedical Institute, DrBettina Vadera.

FAI’s video trailer on the theme of

air ambulance services was shownduring the celebrations.

FAI rent-a-jet has offered itsservices to the insurance industry, togovernmental organisations, tohospitals, to major corporations and

to private clients for more than 25years. With its growing fleet of 20aircraft, six of which are permanentlyconfigured as air ambulances, and itsown certified maintenance depart-ment FAI has become one of the

largest business aviation companiesin Germany. Aside from its activitiesin the air ambulance sector thecompany also offers vip charter, airtransport logistics for the UnitedNations, and aircraft management.

Volker Lemke, centre, celebrates FAI’s award with Dr Bettina Vadera on the left.

FAI’s innovative approach to patient safety andworldwide service earns air ambulance accolade

With a list value in excess of US$7.8billion, VistaJet is hailing its order for56 new Bombardier Global aircraftplus 86 options the single largesttransaction ever placed with an aircraftmanufacturer in business aviation.

The value of the firm order isapproximately $3.1 billion at 2012prices and comprises 25 Global 5000,25 Global 6000 and six Global 8000jets. Deliveries are set to begin inJanuary 2014 with one a montharriving thereafter.

A policy of retiring aircraft in thefleet as they reach just three to fouryears old means that many from thisnew order will be replacements. “Thisis the most significant milestone for

VistaJet and is a testimony to ourstrategy that focuses on globalcoverage,” Flohr says. “Earlier in theyear we announced landmarkagreements with partners in Chinaand Russia and, since then, the levelof demand we have seen in growthmarkets around the globe has beenunprecedented. Such customersuccess allows us to place this historicorder and will enable us to base morenew aircraft in these growth markets.”

Another major order this yearcame from fractional operatorNetJets, as reported in July’s EBAN.However, Thomas Flohr, VistaJetfounder and chairman, believesfractional ownership to be a broken

business model, stating in a Fox Newsinterview that people do not want toinvest into such assets anymore, butwould rather invest their cash andliquidity into growing their ownbusinesses. Flohr has also revealedthat VistaJet’s huge order was drivenby growth of 25 per cent in 2012, in nosmall part due to the decision to fast-track fleet growth to provide point-to-point global coverage for growthmarkets including Russia, China, theMiddle East and Africa, connectingthem to the rest of the globe.

VistaJet is doubling its dedicatedsales force for the emerging marketsto establish further presence during Q1 2013.

8 DECEMBER 2012 EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

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VistaJet places largest-ever order for Global business jets

Enabling it to operate flights to, fromand within Canada, Gama Group hasbeen granted a Foreign Air OperatorCertificate (FAOC) while MarshallExecutive Aviation is also workingtowards the certification.

Gama says the development ispart of its programme of contin-uing investment in the expansion of the range of products and servicesfor clients.

Recent enhancements includeadding additional aircraft to thecharter fleet and expansion ofoperating bases and regional offices.

Earlier this year, Gama wasawarded by the US Federal AviationAdministration Part 129 approval,giving it the ability to conductunlimited commercial operationsinto the United States.

“These accreditations activelydemonstrate Gama’s continueddevelopments in enhancing theservice we are able to offer ourclients. These developments go handin hand with the highest standards of safety, security and a very strictattention to detail in all aspects ofour operation.” says Paul Cremer,commercial manager. “Critically, we are now able to meet many of our customer’s more challengingneeds, such as last minute flightrequests to North American andCanadian destinations.”

Marshall Executive Aviation, partof the Marshall Group, is advancingwork to obtain a Canadian FAOC toenable the company to operateflights in Canada with its Stansted-based Challenger 300.

The move also follows hard on theheels of the operator being grantedan AOC extension this summerenabling its Challenger to operate toNorth and South America, Africa, the

Middle East and Russia, as well as thepopular European destinations.

“Our goal is to widen our AOCinternationally as our businessexpands and also add to themanaged aircraft fleet,” says MEAmanaging director Steve Jones.

The Challenger is one of threeexecutive aircraft MEA operates, theothers being a Citation XLS and aC550 Bravo, which it says are ideal forcharters in Europe, north Africa andwestern Russia.

Jones adds: “The extension of the AOC will enable us to operateover a much larger area and offerMEA’s clients our excellent servicevirtually worldwide.”

Marshall draws servicestogetherIn a separate development MarshallAerospace has launched JETability, a business aviation solution thatcombines the company’s resourcesinto a customer-focused, ‘one call,one team’ centre of excellence for the business aviation sector.

Services available include aircraftmanagement, maintenance, MRO,charter, sales, concierge andconsultancy; all available through abespoke call centre.

Steve Fitz-Gerald, ceo of MarshallAerospace, comments: “JETability is our commitment to developfurther business aviation inCambridge, expand our portfolio ofservices and develop a top-rankedFBO in conjunction with our partner ExecuJet.”

The JETability brand was unveiledat the Royal Aeronautical Society inLondon and will operate under theleadership of Steve Jones, who hasoverall responsibility for businessaviation across the Marshall Group.

In London, celebrating the deal, are Bombardier Business Aircraft svp for sales Bob Horner and president Steve Ridolfi, withVistaJet founder and chairman Thomas Flohr and chief commercial officer Ian Moore.

Charter ops extend reachwith Canadian FAOC

CJ2 is a departure for Global Jet

Two additions to the Global Jet fleet, aGlobal Express XRS and a CJ2, willenable the sales team to offercustomers a wider choice and neweraircraft. The XRS will be the third of thetype in its commercial fleet and has ahigh tech cabin accommodating up to10 passengers in comfort.

Something of a departure for thecompany, the CJ2 is the smallestaircraft in the fleet with seating for sixpassengers. Sales and marketingassistant Héloïse Faury explains: “Weactually seized an opportunity. Thiskind of cabin was perfectly adapted tosome of our clients’ charter needs.

“Broadening the type of aircraft weoperate is a way to achieve our maingoal of meeting our clientele’s wishes.”

CEGA Air Ambulance has invested ina bespoke state-of-the-art bloodstorage system, enabling it to carry out air transfers for critically ill patients that are in need of blood transfusions.

CEGA’s use of Cool Logistics’thermal carrier units for the transportof blood and blood products allowsits air ambulance crews to store andtransport blood at a stabletemperature for up to 144 hours and,if necessary, to give patients mid-flight blood transfusions – whereverthey are in the world.

“CEGA is one of the first fixed wing

air ambulance providers to use thesethermal carrier units. It extends ourcritical care transfer service topatients who would in the past havehad to break their flight if theyneeded a blood transfusion, or nothave been able to fly at all,” saysCEGA’s chief medical officer Dr Tim Hammond.

“Having access to an in-flightblood bank will allow us to carry outpotentially life-saving action on thelongest of flights and in the mostremote of locations, enhancing ourseamless aeromedical care,”concludes Dr Hammond.

CEGA adds in-flight blood storageand transfusion capability

Global 6000 kicks-off fleetrenewal at NetJets

NetJets’ first Signature Series Global6000 is now on its way to enteringservice. Chairman and ceo JordanHansell says: “This is the first all-newaircraft of the 670 we have on order.

“We have been successful inselling all the shares in this Global6000 aircraft and we are excitedbecause it kicks off the overallrenewal of our fleet. Our customersexpect the very best and we areconfident that the Signature SeriesGlobal 6000 will exceed theirexacting expectations.”

Bombardier says that the jet’scabin size and levels of comfort

combined with an optional stand-upshower and the Bombardier Visionflight deck mean no other purpose-built business jet comes close interms of high speed range capabilityand traveller comfort.

NetJets Signature Series is a rangeof new aircraft to enter the fleet thatare customised from design throughto production and include advancedcockpit and cabin technologies toensure maximum safety, reliabilityand operating efficiency. Amongstothers, the series includes theBombardier Global jet family and theChallenger 300 and 605 series jets.

All shares are sold for NetJet’s first Signature Series Global 6000.

DECEMBER 2012 9EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

Gama Group has established a newoperating base in Geneva, andlocated a Gulfstream V and a Learjet45 at the new facility. These aircraftjoin another Gama Swiss-basedLearjet, currently located at thecompany’s Zurich base.

On November 9th, Capt HamishRoss, general manager of GamaAviation SA, hosted more than 50Swiss business aviation guests duringa celebratory opening event at its new offices, located within Geneva

airport’s executive terminal. Heintroduced key members of the newteam, including commercial managerYasmine Howell, operations managerLaura Malisani and office managerAdeline Stohler.

With dedicated personnel and thefirst two aircraft in situ, Ross and histeam are aiming to broaden the rangeand number of aircraft managementservices to existing and potential cust-omers. They are also working towardsa full Swiss AOC by Spring 2013.

“Our new facilities in Genevacomplement the recent significantgrowth in Gama’s global offering,which now comprises over 30operational bases around the world,”says Ross. “We are in the enviableposition of having a highly respectedmanagement team already in place,who are committed to offering thehighest standards of safety, efficiencyand value to our prospective clients,especially those seeking aircraftmanagement or charter services.”

Gama Aviation opens Geneva base New Gama team members Laura Malisani, Yasmine Howell and Adeline Stohler join Capt Hamish Ross at Gama Aviation SA.

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Learjet 85 gets its wingsThe first wing shipment for theLearjet 85 has arrived at theWichita assembly line and is nowin the process of being readied formating to the fuselage of the firstflight test aircraft.

The Learjet 85 will have a rangeof 3,000 nm and will be equippedwith the Vision Flight Deck.

Gulfstream makes firstdelivery of G280Gulfstream has delivered its firstsuper mid-sized G280 business jet.The company says it becomes theonly super midsize aircraft that canreliably fly non-stop betweenLondon and New York.

Piper puts G1000 into the SeminolePiper is incorporating the GarminG1000 avionics suite into newtwin-engine Seminoles in 2013.Piper president and ceo SimonCaldecott says: “Building on thesystem’s success in our M-Classaircraft, the G1000 will put a wealthof flight-critical data at the fingertips of Seminole pilots.” It replacesthe G500 suite used currently.

Schwenk to overseePilatus jetMarkus Bucher is to take the role ofceo and chairman of the executiveboard of Pilatus Aircraft in January,while Oscar J Schwenk moves on tobecome chairman of the board ofdirectors. Schwenk will also headup the senior project managementof the PC-24 twin-engine businessjet development.

A IRCRAFT NEWS . . .

Legacy 500 test programme gets under wayThe Legacy 500 has made a successful first flight, marking the beginningof its flight test programme. Deliveries of the first aircraft are expected tobegin in 2014.

“This is the aircraft that will move us from industry player to industryleader,” says Ernest Edwards, president, Embraer Executive Jets. “TheLegacy 500 breaks through the traditional midsize jet envelope to offersomething that has never been done before. It is hard to overstate theimportance of fly-by-wire technology – it does for business aviation whatGPS has done for navigation. It will empower more precision, efficiency,safety and comfort every time the aircraft flies.”

Would you like to sponsor this column? Email mark@ebanmagazine.com

After netting national title GainJetlooks forward to the next stage

GainJet Aviation has been namednational champion at the EuropeanBusiness Awards 2012/13. Thecompany was put forward torepresent Greece earlier in the yearand was judged on its innovation,business excellence and sustain-ability. Capt James McBride, ceo, says:“We are pleased to highlight thevibrant industry that we are a part ofand look forward to the next round ofthe judging process where we canexplain in more depth the dynamicsbehind our industry and how we areachieving business success in thesetough trading conditions.”

Pictured, left to right, are RSMStylianou ceo Athos Stylianou, Greekdeputy minister of developmentNotis Mitarakis, Capt McBride andBritish ambassador to Greece DrDavid Landsman.

Bucher becomes ceo for PilatusAircraft.

10 DECEMBER 2012 EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

For operators in the luxury and largeaircraft category, the Middle East hasalways been an important region,and never more so than now.Austerity across Europe may nothave affected the heavy metalcharter operators as much as the airtaxis, but it is causing them to takemore serious steps to find businessin other parts of the world.Partnerships and deals in Asia,Africa and the Middle East are theorder of the day.

Comlux Aviation, for example, hasannounced the relocation of itsoperations department and crewcontrol centre to the region in a movethat allows a wider coverage of thedifferent time zones. Middle Eastcommercial director Claire Brugirardsays: “We have a team ofapproximately 50 people who are allpermanently based in our regionaloffice in Bahrain.”

Other companies take fulladvantage of their relative geographicproximity to the Middle East region.GainJet believes its location in Greeceis ideal, placing it in the centre of itsthree major target markets – Europe,Middle East and Africa.

Athens-based Amjet Executiveagrees that, despite having no aircraftbased in the Middle East, its strategiclocation between the Middle East andAfrica and charter operationsbetween the two allow it to becompetitive for such routings.

Based in Turkey, the crossroads ofEurope and the Middle East, aircharter broker Apron Aviation clearlybenefits from its location. MehmetOzdemir, Istanbul region coordinator,says almost half of the company’s aircharter business is to or from theMiddle East.

European companies looking totake on charter work in the Gulf statesare increasingly subject to strongcompetition from local operators. Butcompanies such as Doha-basedRizon Jet complain that the playingfield is not level when it comes toforeign operators looking to providecharter services within the EU.“Legislation protecting EU operatorshas not been fully thought through interms of the charter client and

Business aviation at thecrossroads – how the Middle

East and Europe interact

Chapman Freebornstrengthens MoscowChapman Freeborn has namedAlexey Zuev as commercial directorin its Moscow office, withresponsibility for expanding thegroup’s activity in Russia and theCIS. His most recent position wasas general manager for SkyLinkAviation where he oversaw large-scale aviation projects andgovernment charter contracts forfixed-wing and helicopteroperations worldwide.

Working alongside Zuev isDmitri Kourenkov, who has beenappointed to the role of operationsdirector. He joined ChapmanFreeborn in 2008 and previouslyheld the position of flightoperations manager in the UAE.

The private jet division has alsobeen strengthened by the recentarrival of London-based NataliaBazenova to the position ofexecutive charter sales for Russiaand CIS.

Stratajet offers free real-time bookingA new online charter marketplace,which links in with Leon Softwareand other third-party systems, has opened its doors to UK charter operators wishing toupload their fleet, performanceand pricing details.

Stratajet’s developers say it willbe the only online brokerageplatform that has the capability forreal-time booking rather thansimply quote generation. It is freefor operators to use the service.

BACA reports increasinguse of escrow Growing numbers of peoplebooking private charter flights areseeking ways to keep their depositssafe until their flight takes off.

“Clients may be asked to pay asubstantial deposit to secure acharter flight but there is littleprotection if one of the otherparties – the broker, the agent orthe aircraft operator – goes out ofbusiness before the flight takesplace,” says Dick Gilbert, chairmanof the Baltic Air CharterAssociation (BACA).

To help solve this problem,BACA launched an escrow facilitylast year to provide a securedeposit for funds being paid inadvance by customers for aircharters worldwide.

“We have noticed a significantincrease in enquiries about escrow

in the last six months or so,” saysGilbert. “It is not necessarily thatmore operators or agents are going bust, it’s more about peaceof mind.”

Air Charter Service opensin KazakhstanAir Charter Service has opened aKazakhstan office in the country’slargest city, Almaty.

Evgeny Galkin will be headingup the new operation after movingfrom his management role in thecompany’s Moscow office.

Tony Bauckham, Air CharterService’s ceo, comments: “We havebeen offering aircraft charters inthe CIS since opening our Moscowoffice in 1995 and expanded to StPetersburg in 2010. We have beenplanning this office in Kazakhstanfor the past couple of years.

“We will be offering both cargoand passenger charters toKazakhstan’s buoyant oil and gasindustry, as well as the huge metaland mineral extraction business.With a lot of top level executives in the banking world travelling to, from and around the country as well, it was the natural next stepfor us.”

PrivateFly.com supportsChildren in NeedPrivate jet booking servicePrivateFly.com has helped toarrange an ‘8 Go Mad in Monaco’return trip by Challenger 850 forthe BBC’s Children in Need charityauction. Radio listeners bid live onair and the winning bids for thepackage totalled over £1 million.

Four pairs of tickets wereauctioned for the four-night trip,including vip tickets to the 2013Monaco Grand Prix, brunch withthe F1 teams from Ferrari,McLaren, Lotus or Red Bull,accommodation at The ColumbusHotel, a party on Radio 2 DJ ChrisEvans’ yacht, and an invitation forone couple to Prince Albert ofMonaco’s cocktail party.

The aircraft, operated by Air X,will make the return trip fromFarnborough to Nice Cote d’Azurin May next year. FlyMeNow hasadded flights on two vip A109SGrand helicopters to the package.

CHAR TER BROKER NEWS . . .

PrivateFly.com ceo with charitymascot Pudsey bear.

therefore damages the industry,” saysceo Captain Hassan Al-Mousawi.

“Given that most confirmationsfor charter occur at the end of arequest-quotation-contract processprior to applying for permits, anobjection in most cases results only indamage to the operator and client,and rarely in a contract for theobjecting party.”

And there is little recourse toappeal in the event of an objection,he says: “We recently had a flightwhere we received an objection for awet lease client on a seventh freedomflight to France and upon engagingthe operator to explain the situationwere simply told that they neitherbelieved our explanation or wouldconsider withdrawing the objection.”Rizon Jet sometimes has to chase uprequests for non-objection which,given the last minute nature of much

of its business, can cost it thebooking. “It would be very helpful if acut-off time could be enforcedunilaterally as it is in some memberstates,” suggests Al-Mousawi.

Others complain about the relativecosts of simply flying services toEurope, among them Nexus, acompany providing consultancy andflight support services from bases inBahrain and Saudi Arabia. WilliamMermelstein, vp safety, quality andtraining, believes that the costs ofhandling and other flight-relatedservices at airports in Europe tend tobe higher and, in many cases,excessive. He gives an example: basedon a 40-tonne aircraft and groupthree noise at night (corrected toeuros), a flight into Paris Le Bourgetworks out at €429.21+VAT. The sameflight into Jeddah comes in at just€165.80. “I imagine the cost is relatedto excessive taxation, labour rates andoverall economic conditions,” hesays. “Actually, the internal Europeanaircraft base is shrinking, so they haveto charge more to recover these lostrevenues.”

This drop in the volume ofoperations in Europe is leading to aninflux of skilled staff looking for workwith Middle Eastern companies.Riyadh-based NasJet expects this tocontinue as Europe remains stuck inrecession and general aviationmovements decrease. Charter salesdirector Khalil Rachidi says: “Onaverage we get at least 20 prospectiveEuropean candidates enquiries a day,from crew, management andoperations. Many key positions in ourorganisation continue to be held byboth Saudis and Europeans. Welaunched in Saudi Arabia 13 years agoin partnership with the largest privateaviation operator in the world andsince then the operating processeshave been very much international.”

Rizon Jet has a diverse workforcefrom all corners of the world withEuropeans making up around a third.“European staff members – much likethe rest of our workforce – haveshown great commitment anddedication to the continued successof Rizon Jet and as such are highlyvalued,” says Al-Mousawi.

Dr Mustafa Atac fears unrest puts livesat risk.

The Middle East’s business aviation event of the year takes place December 11-13, at Dubai World Central (DWC), a purpose built‘aerotropolis’ at Al Maktoum International airport. For Europe’s leading aircraft operators the event is taking on increasingimportance with exhibitors this year to include ABS Jets, Aerovision, Amjet, DC Aviation, Delta Aerotaxi, Gama, PrivatAir, Travconand Jet Aviation. Reflecting the importance of business aviation and GA to the long-term strategy of the Dubai government,business aviation operations will commence from DWC in 2013.

Comlux’s Claire Brugirard suggestscultural knowledge is important.

Alexey Zuev has joined ChapmanFreeborn.

DECEMBER 2012 11EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

Zur Banner of Israeli charterbroker Lynx Jet believes he benefitsfrom being located in one of thecheapest places to buy on-demandcharter. Differences in taxation meanthat jet fuel is considerably cheaperthan in the European Union.

Overcomingthe languagebarrierSubtle language differences can proveobstructive, a problem NasJetdirector of maintenance RagheHassan has encountered whendealing with aircraft manufacturers.Understanding the local culture orthe culture of a particularorganisation will inevitably smooththe flow of business.

A company operating aircraftgoverned by European/EASAregulations may find this works in itsfavour. As GainJet’s marketing direc-tor Andrew Hallak reveals: “Due to thestrict regulations we must abide by,European-registered aircraft areviewed at a different level in regionslike the Middle East. The marketgenerally categorises them as morereliable and has greater confidence inthe safety of the aircraft and theintegrity of the operator. We believemore European registered aircraft inthe region would raise the level ofservice and safety in the region.”

A good indicator of the wealth tobe found in some Middle Easterncountries, and their resilience duringthe economic crisis, is the continuingdemand for larger aircraft. CarolineJongma of Air Charter Internationalnotes that, as big jets are preferredeven for small trips, prices remainfairly high. “Europe has more smalljets than the Middle East, makingprices and the choice of aircraft muchmore interesting and competitive.Europeans are more price-educatedand know when they get a good deal.Middle Easterners will alwaysnegotiate,” she says.

Luxury destinations are still indemand by Middle Eastern clients. ZilAir regularly carries such passengerson its island hopping services aroundthe Seychelles. Ashvin Seeboo,commercial director, finds noproblems conducting business withMiddle Eastern clients as Zil Air’sservice is tailor-made to meet their requirements.

However, in 26 years of providingaeromedical services, Turkey-basedRedstar Aviation reveals that it hasnever faced more critical ordangerous missions as a result ofunrest in the Middle East region.Accountable manager Dr MustafaAtac says: “I fear that the connectionand cooperation between theEuropean and Arab countries willeventually suffer from these poorlymanaged problems. RSA has lostcount of the aborted missions as aresult of the unrest aimed atpolicymakers locally and globally.”

Atac also believes that closercontrol of the civil aviation authoritiesfrom EASA and FAA would contributeto the improve-ment of aeromedicalservices and cooperation betweenEurope and the Middle East.

Spanning thecultural divideUnderstanding the culture, traditionand behaviours of passengers andtheir families is vital for medevacoperators such as Redstar Aviation.The Middle East is a useful market forthe organisation, however, shiftingpolitical situations from country tocountry can present difficulties, whileother obstacles prove more critical.“Imposed sanctions may presentdanger to patients in need ofadvanced medical treatment and canhamper air medical services; RSAfirmly believes that the UN shouldexclude these services from embargoand sanction criteria,” says Dr Atac.

A shared aim of improving airmedical services in the region hasforged long-lasting partnerships andRSA says it has strategic alliances with almost all countries in theMiddle East.

“The advantage of being located atSabiha Gökcen International airportallows us to operate ‘wing to wing’services with a number of operatorsworldwide,” says Atac.

“Nearly 20 per cent of ourbusiness is from the Middle East andmore than a third is from therepublics of the Caspian and centralAsia. The number of flights from theMiddle East would increasesubstantially with the acquisition of alonger range aircraft, which is in the

RSA growth programme for 2013.”Contributing factors for growth

are, says Atac, the increase in theeconomic and leisure industrybetween Turkey and Arabia, a rapiddevelopment in medical treatmentsin Turkey and, less positively, thepolarisation factors in the regionmaking Turkey the country of choice.

Atac proposes that theaeromedical industry as a whole canovercome the problems caused bypolitical upheaval, saying: “Thoseinvolved in the industry havereached a common understanding,easing cultural differences for acommon cause. There is still much to do and long way to go – thehandling and aeromedical servicesat some airports definitely needfurther improvements.”

Between 30 and 40 per cent ofAmjet Executive’s charter businesscomes from the Middle East andChristian Loiseau believes the abilityto meet client needs stretches back tothe company’s origins: “AmjetExecutive is driven by one man’slifelong passion for aviation. CaptainAbakar Manany founded thecompany in 2009 with a clear vision,to provide a multiculturalbackground in order to offer servicesof the utmost quality to clients fromthe Middle East in particular.”

Recognising that the marketplaceremains competitive, Loiseaubelieves Amjet’s offering of latestgeneration or recently refurbishedaircraft aimed at meeting every travelrequirement – business, pleasure,government mission, group tours orsports teams – keep the charter salesdepartment busy.

“This second part of 2012 is seeingsome positive indicators regardingthe business aviation industry,” he says. “As we are still in a period of worldwide economic instability,our guidelines remain the same – we conduct partnerships andstrategies with pragmatism. EU andME cooperation could be more

focussed on safety, for example.”Since its beginnings, GainJet

Aviation SA too has worked ondeveloping its business in the MiddleEast and has a vested interest in the region. That lucrative market isone of the reasons for locating itsheadquarters in Athens, a centralpoint from which to service the EMEA region. Andrew Hallak says:“About 30 per cent of our total aircharter business is either to or fromthe Middle East and of that around65-70 per cent are passengers fromthe region.”

GainJet has a permanent base inKuwait where it keeps one aircraftthat moves between Kuwait andEurope, usually its Gulfstream G550or Global Express XRS which arepopular with Middle Eastern clients.

“We also have strategic alliances,primarily in Kuwait but also in otherareas of the Gulf. We are in theprocess of acquiring several aircraftwhich we plan to base in the region,”says Hallak.

He believes that European/Africanoperators attempting to conductbusiness in the Middle East may notfind it plain sailing. “In general, andespecially with a worldwideoperation like GainJet’s, whencrossing borders and doing businessabroad you are bound to findobstacles such as language barriers ordifferent cultural/business practices.And regulations differ, which couldbe an issue. So it is actually difficultfor a European/African to deal withMiddle Eastern customers andsuppliers, and operate in the region.”

GainJet, however, has alwaysinvested resources in its Middle Eastbusiness and, through its experiencein the region and multilingual staff,ensures it has the necessary tools toovercome any obstacles.

Mehmet Ozdemir of ApronAviation in Turkey believes thatEurope has reached a higher qualityservice level than the Middle East.“First of all, there is no need to obtainpermission for Europe except forsome exceptions, and it has muchbetter organised airports.”

“I think there should be anorganisation to indicate servicequality standards and all Europe andMiddle Eastern airports should have a place in it, in the same pot,”Ozdemir says.

Strong relationships with localoperators help those companieswithout a base in the Middle Eastconduct business successfully. OMNI Aviation is based in Portugal,and has forged useful alliances withlocal operators.

Pedro Caneira reveals that asignificant share of clients for its vipairliners are from the Middle Eastregion and cultural issues have notbeen an impediment to findingbusiness there: “Currently we don’tfeel any barriers and these days wefind that a significant part of ourcounterparts are not locals,” saysCaneira. In fact, he does not view the

Cabin crew manager Olga Beglopoulou waits at the entrance of a GainJet vip B757 for the arrival of a Middle Eastern head of stateand his delegation.

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12 DECEMBER 2012 EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

region as presenting its own specificchallenges: “Today the market isglobal so the competition we face inthe region is common to the otherparts of the world. We believe thattoday’s standards are quite close, soevery operator is aware of the client’sprofile from every region in the world.For us, as a Portuguese company, wehave a strong Arab influence fromcenturies ago, so there is a naturalhistoric bond between our cultures.”

OMNI has an EMS Learjet 45based in Abu Dhabi for anaeromedical contract.

Zurich-headquartered Comluxhas a base in the Middle East andaround 30-40 per cent of its businessis either to or from the region, areflection of its growing importanceto the company and business aviationin general, reports Claire Brugirard.“This was the major factor forinvesting more there; a regional officewas opened in Bahrain two years agoto cater to a higher demand from thisarea with the objective of being closerto our customers,” she says.

“Currently we have an AirbusACJ320, ACJ319 and Boeing 767 BBJ invip configuration which operate outof the Middle East. All three are verymuch appreciated by Middle Easterncustomers, especially with theluggage capacity the aircraft offer.”

Brugirard points out that doingbusiness successfully in the MiddleEast requires an understanding of themarket, its players and, mostimportantly, an understanding of theculture. “The way that people dobusiness there is simply differentfrom the way that people do businessin Europe,” she says. “European andAfrican businesses can definitely besuccessful in the Middle East, as longas they have the right expertise andcultural awareness in-house.”

Business aviation within theMiddle East has marked itsimportance and put itself on theworld map over the last couple ofyears and Brugirard agrees that it is animportant region that cannot beneglected. “Having said that, the greymarket is still a big challenge and a lotof operators in the Middle East have tocope with this phenomenon regularly.

“It is clear that the Middle East andEurope need each other; sometimesthe supply available in one regiondoes not cover the demand. In such asituation strong alliances betweenthe two make it possible to createflexibility to move the supply towardsthe areas of demand.”

Depending on the season, chartersales director Khalil Rachidi ofRiyadh-based NasJet estimates flightsto and from Europe constitutearound a third of its overall business.“We are beginning to see growth asbrokers are beginning to realise ourbusiness model is now focused moreon aircraft management and charter,whereas for the past 12 years its beenfractional.” NasJet has recently listedits charter fleet on Avinode.

For all NasJet programmes and

services there are no fixed bases andthe company focusses on servingclient requirements based on theirlocation. Many of the programmesoffered guarantee aircraft availability,including block charter, in which casean aircraft has to be available within aspecified time frame. “Currently ourstrategic alliances are with internallyaudited, approved Europeanoperators and in the US we work withJet Aviation,” says Rachidi. “Ideally,we only request support fromoperators with similar aircraft typesto our core fleet, ensuring clients arefamiliar with the aircraft.”

According to Raghe Hassan, Nasjetdirector of maintenance, dealing withthe EU from a commercialperspective presents a few issues,including time zone differences andthe fact that weekends in SaudiArabia are Thursday to Friday. “Bothparties effectively lose two days in theweek. This has an impact onefficiency if you are dealing withadministrative or banking issues.”

Europe is a useful market forNasJet, since many of its MiddleEastern clients have strong ties withthe region either in the form ofinvestments, holiday homes orschooling for their children. “Wewould like to see more activitybetween the two regions, especiallyfrom European and Russian clientsflying internally in the Middle East,and particularly from the UAE,” saysRachidi. “The Middle East is alsobeginning to see new Europeanentrants trying to service the localmarket, clearly indicating a close tiebetween the two continents.”

Director Hardy Sohanpal believesthat the Middle East has become anextension of European businessaviation and many countries in theregion are looking to Europe inadopting civil aviation regul-ations. “As charter operators we are allaiming for the Holy Grail of efficiencyand this can only come bycollaborating with each other. Thetwo associations, EBAA and MEBAA,should consider a white paper on therelationship between the two regionsin terms of movements, servicesprovided etc.

“NasJet would also welcome morestatistical data on GA between thetwo regions, particularly onmovements and the contributionMiddle East operators make to theEuropean economy.”

Rizon Jet is the only Middle Eastowned operator to operate an FBO inEurope with its facility at Biggin Hill.It also has an affiliation with Oryx Jet,a UK AOC holder.

“In terms of hours, approximately40 per cent of our business is to orfrom Europe,” says Captain HassanAl-Mousawi. “Almost none originatesin Europe, although naturally over thesummer peak we may drop ourregional clients off to pick them up a

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Bristol FBO boosted by AirbusThe Bristol Flying Centre groupexpects a massive upturn in pass-enger numbers in 2013 with theaward of two large handlingcontracts and a doubling in size ofits FBO. The group, which incorp-orates the award winning charteroperator Centrelineair based atBristol airport, has recently signeda deal with bmi regional to handlethe Airbus corporate business aswell as agreeing terms withanother global brand.

Work to expand the passengerlounge facilities is due to becompleted at the end of December.

Heli-One to build in PolandCanadian company Heli-One,member of CHC Helicopter andthe world’s largest helicoptersupport company, is opening itsnext base at Rzeszów-Jasionkaairport. The construction of arenovation and repair centre isexpected to be started next year.

Heli-One (Poland) has alreadyinstalled itself in temporarypremises at the airport, employingmore than 30 people. Currentplans call for the facility to be openaround the end of 2013.

Saudi maintenance first forFlying ColoursFlying Colours Corp has picked upits first Saudi-registered aircraftmaintenance project, a Challenger604 which will undergo a variety ofmajor inspections, servicebulletins, and interior refurbish-ment early in 2013. The companyreceived maintenance approval

from Saudi Arabia’s GACA inSeptember and is now permitted tocarry out continuous airworthinessfor locally-registered aircraft.

EBAA applauds EUsuspension of ETSThe European Business AviationAssociation says it is optimisticabout the EU Climate ActionCommissioner’s announcementthat the application of the region’sEmissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to flights to and from the EU hasbeen suspended.

“This at least demonstrates theCommission’s willingness tosupport the drafting of a globalframework tackling CO2 emissions.It shows that Brussels has beenlistening to members of the busin-ess aviation community, alongsiderepresentatives from the globalaviation industry, who have longargued that a comprehensivemarket-based mechanismadopted worldwide would bemuch more meaningful againstclimate change,” says FabioGamba, EBAA ceo. “We only regretthat this reasoning did not lead tothe application of the samemeasure to intra-EU flights.”

FL Technics Jets marksfirst yearLithuania’s FL Technics Jets hascarried out maintenance for 20business jets since obtaining itsPart 145 certificate and opening forthis type of business a year ago.The company is now planning toexpand into commercial aircraftconversions for business use, saysceo Darius Saluga.

OPERAT IONS NEWS . . .

Signum Aviation’s operations controller Anthony Evans, md Jonathan Gill and opsmanager Kevin Greenwood.

Signum expands into ChinaSignum Aviation, the flight planning and operations support specialist, iscelebrating its fifth anniversary by expanding into the Chinese market. TheChester, UK-headquartered company provides a trip-planning andoperations support service to the corporate and business aviation sectorand will be opening its new Beijing facility in the first quarter of 2013.

Nasjet’s Khalil Rachidi is seeing growth.

Continued from preceding page

DECEMBER 2012 13EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

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month or so later.”Rizon Jet’s multicultural team is

experienced in dealing with peoplefrom a range of countries, although itrarely secures flights from EUnationals originating from withinECAC member states.

Three quarters of the flights forwhich Nexus provides servicesoriginate or terminate in the MiddleEast and North Africa region, whilethe remainder overfly. “The demandin the Middle East is for larger andnewer aircraft typically, whencompared to the general chartermarket in Europe,” says WilliamMermelstein.

“Everyone has been affected by theeconomic problems of Europe, butthe Middle East not so badly.”

Lookingfurther afieldWhile working hard to extendbusiness connections betweenEurope and the Middle East, thesmart operators are also looking toAfrica for business opportunities.And it is no wonder, with figuresshowing impressive increases inmovements across the continent.

Lagos-based Evergreen AppleNigeria has not just noted increasingaircraft movements but also abroader range of originating andoutgoing destinations and a growthin demand for its FBO services.

“After more than a year ofoperations we have a firm footholdand can see a variety of clientpatterns and trends emerging,” saysceo Segun Demuren.

Business aviation movementshave increased by over 100 per centyear-on-year and daily movements

are running at an average of 15 daily.Flights are arriving into the FBO

predominantly from Europe withLondon, Ireland, Germany, Spain,France and Austria all featuring asregular starting points. Driving thegrowth is the expansion of the oil andgas energy industries which is seeingincreased interest from Europeancompanies. Flight arrivals from theMiddle East are also growing, withDubai, Saudi Arabia and Aman ratinghighest in terms of originatingdestinations.

National flights within Nigeria and

from further afield including Gambia,Cameroon, Ghana and EquatorialGuinea all reflect the increase inAfrican business aviation activitydriven by the continent’s continuedexpansion of energy, mineral,agricultural and telecom sectors.

Owing to the size of the continent,mid to heavy jets are proving mostpopular at the EAN hangar.Gulfstream 400/450 models, theGlobal Express family and Challengertypes from 601s to 850s are regularlyparking up at the hangar. “Longerrange fleets are working much harder

than the shorter range aircraft and wenote that our handlers are mainlytaking care of the mid to heavy jets ona regular basis,” says Demuren.Charter operators provide the mainbody of traffic through the airportbut, increasingly, privately ownedaircraft belonging to localentrepreneurs are contributing tomovement figures.

However, while Africa may looklike an easy proposition from theoutside, for those already based there,changing political landscapes canmake the going tough. Debonair

(Private) Limited operates out ofHarare, Zimbabwe, providing shuttleflights to the mining industry on adaily basis.

“We have wanted to develop theaviation industry further in Zimbabweto include scheduled operations tomeet the growing demands of thetourist industry there,” explainsdirector Kevin Smeda. “However, theZimbabwe government has recentlyrestarted Air Zimbabwe withthe support of Chinese participation.Although we have an air servicepermit for scheduled flights fromZimbabwe, the government is notallowing us to use it.”

Debonair operates the King Air 200series of aircraft which has been themainstay of its business operation. ItsC421 proved too expensive to operateand was no longer competitive, butSmeda says: “It was a delightfulaircraft to fly and well liked by ourclients. Every dog has its day I guess.

“We have always focused on thecorporate market with a specificinterest in providing a tailored serviceto clients. It’s because of this conceptthat we have survived so well.”

Smeda sees a need for a reliableflight between Harare and VictoriaFalls as a major tourist attraction.Smaller centres such as Kariba,Chiredzi, Hwange and Bulawayowould also benefit from a smalleroperation such as his to meet theneeds of local industry, he says. “Iwould sorely love to operate a reliableservice on the major routes Harare-Johannesburg-Victoria Falls andthere may very well be in future if wecould encourage the government topermit an open skies policy.”

With Smeda currently flying for acommercial airline in Dubai,expanding business into the UAE isalso a real possibility. ■

What proportion of your charterbusiness is either to or fromEurope including western Russia?Here in the Middle East our charterclient base is diverse. Although themajority of clients are based withinthe region, CIS countries featureheavily. Clientele based in Moscowand Europe presently account foraround 10-15 per cent of our totalcharter bookings.

Do you have any permanentaircraft bases or strategic alliancesin Europe?Being an international operatorwith bases around the world has itsbenefits. Our European charterteams are based in Zurich, Palma,Moscow and Cambridge, so cross-selling is fairly common practice. Allof the ExecuJet Middle East fleet isbased in the region.

Do you employ Europeans on your staff?Indeed – I am British! We alsoemploy charter professionals fromJordan, Lebanon and India. So theteam is truly international. This isone of the benefits of the Dubaiworking environment in that we canrecruit globally from a pool ofskilled individuals.

Is it easy for Middle East businessesto deal with European customers/suppliers, or are there anyremaining cultural issues?To be honest, great aircraft andservice combined with competitivepricing, is now the internationallanguage of the charter business.

Also the fact that both markets arefully established and highlycompetitive helps.

What are your thoughts about howthe Middle East and Europecooperate or interact in businessaviation?The playing field is not totally levelin terms of charter flying, in thatMiddle Eastern operators arerestricted in their Europeanoperations, but European operatorsface almost no restrictions in theMiddle East. However, relations aregenerally very good.

Having worked in Europe, LatinAmerica and the Middle East Iwould say that the Middle Eastrepresents the biggest operationalchallenge to the charter operator.Permissions and permits are ofcourse both a way of life and aconstant challenge. Permissions are

required for almost every countrywe operate to commercially.

The other challenge we some-times face is regional unrest,requiring constant securitymonitoring of different airports andcountries. In many ways we areblessed by having one of the bestsecurity teams in the business, ledby Sven Krieger, who happens to beGerman. The developing situation inSyria created a challenge recently fora charter trip from Beirut toBaghdad. At the time of quoting andconfirmation the trip was straight-forward, with a direct ATC routingover Syria, but as time progressedand the conflict worsened we madethe decision to avoid Syrianairspace. This increased the flyingtime by one hour each way, whichcould have been charged. However,we put the client first and absorbedthe extra flying costs internally. Thusneither the aircraft owner norpassengers lost out.

Does Europe provide a usefulmarket, or difficult competition,for your charter services?It is actually a mixture of both, as wesee both European clients andcompeting operators in the region.However, the biggest challenge isillegal charter, sometimes termedthe ‘grey market’, involving privateaircraft that are not approved forcharter flying by the regulators.Surprisingly, this is actually on therise, despite the fact that in theevent of an accident the aircraft’sinsurance is unlikely to be valid.

Q&A: International language of great serviceovercomes challenges to Middle East operations

High levels of service onboard a Comlux flight.

Mark Hardman, ops director atExecuJet Middle East, shares hisexpertise on working across regions.

14 DECEMBER 2012 EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

The 2012/13 EBAN Handbook ofBusiness Aviation in Europe is out now, and gives details of many more Iceland charteroperators. It also lists businessaviation facilities and servicesincluding airports, FBOs andmaintenance centres.

The details can be accessedonline through a search of aircraftoperated or the airport bases. Formore information please visitwww.handbook.aero

Comprehensive data for Iceland

online free-of-charge

Iceland may be a small country ofjust 320,000 people, but given itsgeographical remoteness it issomewhat surprising that there arenow no business jets on theIcelandic register.

Until Icejet ceased operationsmid-2010 there were three Dornier328 jets in its charter fleet, but now the nation’s 34 business aircraft are all turboprops, pistontwins and helicopters. Most com-mercial operators are predom-inantly involved in sightseeing andsurvey business.

There is business to be done, how-ever. Bell Helicopters, for example,has had a run of success in Icelandthis year, introducing the firstexamples of the 429 and 407GX toIceland.

The small indigenous fleet is not areflection of the level of service whichvisiting aircraft can avail themselvesof at the country’s leading airports.There is a facility owned and operatedby SouthAir (Sudurflug) at Keflavik,which it says is the only purpose-builtFBO there.

The complex boasts two fullyappointed vip lounges, crew restrooms, fully computerised planningand weather facilities, Jet and Avgasfuel service and beverage and mealservices. The geothermally-heatedhangar keeps aircraft warm onovernight stays.

Indeed, short tours to the

geothermal plant, the Blue Lagoon,and the rugged Icelandic coast can be offered to passengers during stop-overs.

Meanwhile at Reykjavik BIRKFlight Services has been looking aftertransit and visiting traffic for 40 years.“We pride ourselves on having one of

the smallest full service terminals onthe planet,” the company says. “It hasall you’ll need and nothing else. A fewfeet of conveyor belt, wirelessinternet, free international telephoneservices, access to flight planningsoftware, a small selection ofrefreshments and some very friendly

Optimistic operators expect burgeoningtourism industry to fuel Iceland’s growth

Atlantsflug’s Jon Gretar Sigurdsson believes that the company is ready to take on more business.

Major business aviation airports*

1. Reykjavik BIRK RKV2. Keflavik BIKF KEF3. Akureyri BIAR AEY4. Isafjordur BIIS IFJ5. Egilsstadir BIEG EGS

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

Leading fixed-wing charter operators**

1. Eagle Air2. Norlandair3. Myflug Air4. Gardaflug5.Atlantsflug

Leading helicopter charter operators**

1. BlueWest Helicopters2. Helicopter Service of Iceland

** ranked by number of aircraft for charter

Data extracted from the Handbook

of Business Aviation in Europe,

and the EBAN reader roster.

Business aviationin Iceland by the numbers

18 business aviation airports

12 business charter operators

TF 34 business aircraft on theIcelandic register

ICELANDREGIONALREVIEW

staff. Nothing else. Heaven!”After a turbulent period of banking

and financial crisis, Iceland’s dozen orso business charter outfits arepreparing themselves for recovery.

Atlantsflug is working onimproving the utilisation of itsoperation certificates, namely itsAOC, Part 145 and CAMO approvals,as it believes it is in a position where ithas secured its foundations to take onmore activity than at present.

“This, of course, will mean addingaircraft to our operation and that willmean adding personnel as well,” saysJon Gretar Sigurdsson.

The company is working onexpanding its customer base withtour operators and those who areselling Iceland to travellers, and isseeing an ever-increasing number ofvisitors coming to Iceland each year.

“To handle the growing number ofvisitors the country must havesufficient activity available andinfrastructure must be in place; weare wanting to take part in that work,”he says. “The company is now lookingfor aircraft that would fit into ourtourist operation, and we are mainlylooking at those that can carry up to

nine passengers and either poweredby Jet A1 or 100LL fuel. The biggestdifficulty we are faced with is ourseasonal operation. Even though ourmain season is getting longer eachyear we are still faced with several off-season months that are hard for us inregards to lease or rental payments,and that has been a barrier so far – orperhaps we have not been talking tothe right people!”

Sigurdsson continues: “It is my

belief that the Iceland tourist sector,that is to say those who are providinga variety of services to travellers oncethey are in Iceland, are just about tobreak away from the pioneering workof the openminded and hard-workingforerunners. We are now seeinga more professional approach in thetourist industry as more of our highlyeducated younger people are gettinginvolved and bringing in new ideasand practices, and by taking over thetorch they are seeing the hugepotential that can be to put into playin years to come.

“I believe that we will need to seemore cooperation between differentoperators and even that they joinforces to gain momentum. It isessential to keep on building up theinfrastructure in a way that only alarge organisation can do.”

Service providers such as GlobalFuel, based at Reykjavik, are alsoseeing future growth potential. “Wehave seen year-on-year growth sinceour establishment in 2007,” saysThorsteinn M Bessason, operationsand business development manager.

“In fact, we had our best monthto date this October. We’re excitedabout the future and as always, aim to provide our clients withoutstanding service at the bestpossible price. Global Fuel is looking into new and excitingoptions regarding fuel-orders and how we can make them as efficient as possible. We are alsoworking on expanding our supplierbase, which will result in a betterprice and even more savings for our clients.” ■

“We pride ourselveson having one of the smallest fullservice terminals

on the planet

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A panel of leading charteroperators at the CEPA Expo inPrague recently agreed that theair charter market in thecentral European region is setto grow in coming years, butpondered whether cooperationbetween operators would helpto increase efficiency.

London Executive Aviation’sPatrick Margetson-Rushmorereported having already seen a70 per cent increase in itsbusiness in CEE countries inrecent years, and a 25 per centincrease in 2012 alone. LEAoperates a Challenger 300 and

a Legacy into the region. Themost common destinations arePoland, Croatia, Montenegroand the Czech Republic, hesays, and the direction of travelis east to west, rather than west to east.

Bernhard Fragner ofGlobeAir pointed out thataround two thirds of bookingscome via brokers, andidentified the routes attractingincreasing traffic as Bucharest,Budapest and Croatia, ratherthan the most establisheddestinations.

Indeed Jaroslav Malinsky of

VR Jet, which is based inBratislava, reported that hiscompany is taking business

from Vienna due to the lack ofrestrictions at Bratislavaairport. Vienna is a verycompetitive location andoperators not already basedthere would not attempt toenter the market, he believes.

VR Jet has found thatpassengers are currently down-grading the size of the aircraftrequired for aircraft charter,and that price seems to be thedriving factor – with operatorsdifferentiating by providinggood service and a goodrelationship between thepassengers and crew. Seventy

per cent of the company’sservices are corporate flightswith the rest short-termbookings and ad-hoc.

The panel looked to thefuture to see how air charteroperators might developservices to increase business. Itwas suggested that operatoralliances could be formed inthe region to help reduce costs,and that the standard ofonboard catering should beone of the main focuses whenconsidering passengers’quality requirements.

The ongoing financial crisis affecting mostof Europe, coupled with the mass of newregulations that continue to emanate fromBrussels, is placing more and more financialpressure on the small and medium size AOCoperators. So says UK charter operatorPerfect Aviation as it urges its peers toconsider the benefits of collaboration.

Perfect Aviation believes that, ifoperators are to survive, the time has comefor some innovative thinking. It hastherefore announced a new flight planningand AOC support service.

Business development manager PaulForster explains: “We are pleased to offerthis service to third-party operators who areseeking to reduce or contain their costs.

“We have a highly trained team ofprofessional and fully licensed INAC/EASAaircraft dispatchers who are available on a24/7 basis to oversee all aspects of flightplanning, flight following and operationalsupport. Our concept is to provide an AOCcompetent dispatch department to thirdparty operators pursuant to a service level agreement.”

Forster adds: “Flight planning and flightfollowing and reporting functions will beprovided to operators as if it were beingmade through their own flight dispatchdepartment. With full competency inrespect of EASA flight crew regulations andother relevant regulations, Perfect canprovide a real cost saving to operatorsrequiring a 24/7 flight operations functionbut perhaps struggling to justify the costs ofemploying staffing to cover it.

“Since I joined Perfect one of the mostimpressive areas that I have noted is ourdispatch team, they have never failed toobtain permits or over-flight clearances,some of which have been in very remote ordifficult areas. The team has always beentotally up-to-date on everything that ishappening around the globe and this type ofservice is vital for every flight crew memberand to the operator wanting to ensure thevery best levels of service to the client.”

Starlite focus ison Europe with

latest Super Puma

ISSUE 232 DECEMBER 2012

BETTER SUPPORT,BETTER SOLUTIONS,BETTER FLIGHT PLANNING...

SIMPLY BETTER

S K Y P L A N

www.skyplan.com

CEPA Chairman Brendan Lodgeand founder Dagmar Grossmann.

Page 14

Iceland regionalreview

Pages 10-13

Businessaviation at thecrossroads –how the MiddleEast andEurope interact

Continued on page 3

Continued on page 3

Due to expansion, Perfect Aviation welcome expressions of interest from individuals orcompanies interested in Hangarage, Parking or the taking of office space at London,Biggin Hill airport.

Immediate availability. Exclusive occupancy of the hangar/offices would be considered.

For further details please contact:

Paul Forster Tel: +44 1959 788 003 Mob: +44 7824 468344 pforster@perfect.aero

Hangarage/Parking/Offices available at London Biggin Hill Airport

Learjet 40XR

2007, S/N 2071 | EU-OPS 1. Availablefor sale. 880 hours. MSP Gold. Steepapproach compliant, Dual UNS-1E,Airshow 410, Iridium SATCOM,Nespresso coffee maker. 6/7 paxw/enclosed aft lavatory. Contact:Thierry Huguenin tel: +49 911 36009375 or +1 561 771 1322 FAI rent-a-jetAG. Web: www.rent-a-jet.de Email: JetSales@fai.ag

CESSNA

Citation CJ3

2008, $5,150.000. On TAP Elite andPower Advantage. JAR-Ops equippedbut never chartered. Based in Europe,Only 650 TTAF. One owner since newAtron. Email: sales@atron.ie

Citation S/II

1985, Airframe TT: 8,576, Cycles: 6,755,TSO: 1,304, Pro Line II, GNS-XLS,

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