BUSINESS AVIATION
20 | Flight International | 19-25 January 2016 flightglobal.com
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ama Aviation has acquired
Jersey business aviation ser-
vices provider Aviation Beauport
for over £5 million ($7 million).
The acquisition of the Channel
Islands-based company – which is
expected to be completed in Feb-
ruary, subject to regulatory ap-
proval – marks the first purchase
by Farnborough, UK-headquar-
tered Gama of a business with a
fixed-base operation at its core.
“Gama has two FBOs in its
portfolio – one in Aberdeen, Scot-
land and the other in the Emirate
of Sharjah – but these were devel-
oped as part of our organic growth
at both sites,” says Gama’s chief
marketing officer, Duncan Daines.
The purchase of privately-
owned Aviation Beauport could
trigger similar acquisitions by
Gama in the future. “We are al-
ways on the look-out for compa-
nies that will complement our
business,” says Daines.Gama is already one of the
largest business aviation services
companies in the world, operat-
ing across 46 locations with a
charter and management fleet of
around 150 aircraft.
As well as the FBO, Aviation
Beauport brings Gama a large
hangar and four managed busi-
ness jets – a Cessna Citation Mus-
tang, Cessna XLS and XLS+, and a
Dassault Falcon 2000.
The company’s location is also
strategically important for Gama.
Jersey – with its low tax regime
and secretive companies register- is home to a sizeable community
of high-net-worth individuals and
is an expanding base for business
aircraft. In November 2015, the
British crown dependency
launched a dedicated private
aircraft register to exploit this
growing market.
Chris Kelleher, who heads up
business development for the Jer-
sey registry, says: “Today we
have one aircraft on the register of
ZJ-prefixed aircraft and have sev-
eral more in the pipeline.”
The Jersey base will also bol-
ster Gama’s European infrastruc-
ture ahead of the 2017 launch of
Wheels Up’s membership-based
aircraft programme on the conti-
nent, which Gama will support. It
already participates in the
Beechcraft King Air 350i-based
venture in the USA, through its
Gama Charters subsidiary.
The acquisition is Gama’s first
return to the market since its De-
cember 2014 reverse takeover of
UK-listed Hangar8, which had
since 2012 been working on the
development of a new 4,650m²
(50,000ft²) facility at Jersey air-
port. Construction of the han-
dling and maintenance hangar –
located adjacent to the Aviation
Beauport operation – is under-
stood to already be under way. ■J
ota Aviation, the aircraft charter
and management division of
the Jota Group, has acquired its
first Avro RJ85, and is seeking to
expand its regional airliner fleet to
exploit rising demand in Europe
for VIP and large group transport.
The Southend, UK-based com-
pany already operates a leased
BAe 146-200, and is the largest
provider of the Beechcraft King
Air 90-series in Europe, with a
fleet of four of the type, including
a C90 GTx. Jota also operates a
single 200-series King Air. The
turboprops are used for ad hoc
charter, and also provide air sup-
port to Jota’s motor racing spe-
cialist sister company Jota Sport.
The former Brussels Airlines
RJ85 (G-CHFE), acquired from
Falko, is scheduled to enter ser-
vice in March on completion of
its C-check, cabin refurbishment
and exterior repainting. “The air-craft will be re-registered G-JOTR
and have a 95-seat layout,” says
Jota Aviation commercial director
Mike Sessions.
Jota says the market for trans-
porting large groups is growing,
with sports teams, bands and car
manufacturers on promotionaltours using its aircraft. “Our 146
entered service in late 2014, and
by the end of last year it had
flown over 800h,” Sessions says.
Jota says it is also seeing strong
demand from Europe’s regional
airlines, which are seeking sup-
plemental lift. ■L
ufthansa Technik (LHT) has
outfitted and delivered its
second Boeing Business Jet
747-8 to an undisclosed
customer and is currently
completing its third example of
the VIP widebody.
“The delivery of this second
747-8 is another milestone for us
in the area of VVIP completions
for widebody aircraft,” says
Walter Heerdt, LHT’s senior
vice-president VIP and execu-
tive jet solutions.
LHT, headquartered in
Hamburg, Germany, is the most
prolific outfitter of VIP 747s,
with 14 versions of the airliner
completed and delivered.
This latest aircraft incorpo-
rates new features in its 440m²
(4,740ft²) cabin, says LHT. These
include an integrated cabin
management and onboard enter-
tainment system with broad-
band internet, wireless local area
network, TV and satellite com-
munications equipment.
The company has completed
and refurbished more than 100
VIP airliners since it was estab-
lished in 1994. Of these, around
40 are Boeings, it says.
For its part, Boeing has
delivered 213 green narrowbody
and widebody BBJs since form-
ing its dedicated business air-
craft subsidiary 20 years ago.
In 2015 the company handed
over 11 aircraft to completion
centres which, in turn, delivered
eight outfitted models to custom-
ers – five Boeing 737-based BBJs
and three BBJ 747-8s. ■
strategy kate sarsFIeLd londongama snaps up Jersey FBO
UK-listed operation to acquire Channel Islands-based Aviation Beauport for over £5 millionJota boosts fleet with RJ85 purchase
cOmpletiOns charter kate sarsFIeLd london
kate sarsFIeLd london
Jumbo resumé
shows off lht’s
VVip capability
Boeing has handed over 213
green BBJs so far; 11 in 2015
Newly-acquired aircraft will join operator’s leased Bae 146-Jota AviationBoeing