Press Release

Issued by .

September 25, 2007

PremiAir, one of the UK's leading Business Aviation/GA focused aviation services businesses is once again back at Helitech with another prominent stand presence.  Since the last Helitech, PremiAir has firmly established itself as the leading executive helicopter charter, management and maintenance business in the UK, which complements its long standing market leading position supplying pilots to UK Police Air Support units.  Earlier this year, however, PremiAir also made another significant industry move in becoming the manager and operator of The London Heliport at Battersea when the Heliport was purchased by PremiAir's parent company.

"Executive helicopter use in the UK is growing at a nice pace," commented David McRobert, PremiAir's Group Managing Director.  "We've seen a lot of interest in new aircraft from existing and new customers and with manufacturer order books and lead times sometimes in excess of three years; the used executive helicopter market has also been very strong."

"PremiAir operates a 'one-stop shop' for executive helicopter services," explained McRobert.  "Our focus is very much on IFR twins and regardless of whether a Sikorsky, Bell, Eurocopter or AgustaWestland machine, we offer a full range of services ranging from assistance with purchase and pre-buy inspections, through to operating and managing aircraft for customers.  Our 13 aircraft strong charter fleet is thriving, a vehicle that enables our managed aircraft clients to generate valuable charter revenue if this is something that is important to them and we also conduct pilot type training and probably the most comprehensive range of executive helicopter maintenance and engineering services in the UK."

PremiAir's Engineering & Maintenance operations are run by Barry Stone out of PremiAir's Blackbushe base, close to Farnborough.  Stone commented :  "Over the last five years PremiAir has invested significantly in equipment and training in order to build maintenance capacity on the popular aircraft types – the S76, EC155, AS365, AS355, Bell 430 and A109/ rand.  We have a fantastic team of engineers with huge experience and commitment.  The pro-active work we have done and continue to do, is now paying dividends as the market grows and more executive helicopter owners recognise the full value of our team's services."

One area that PremiAir has increasingly benefited from has been the surge in demand for used helicopters.  "Prospective owners turn to us for help and guidance in buying an executive helicopter," explained Christopher Forrest, Operations Director.  "Normal practice is to understand exactly what a buyer needs from a machine and then to identify suitable types of helicopter that match the customer's requirements.  Most helicopters have specific strengths and weaknesses, which we highlight to clients with recommendations of which type of helicopter we believe will best suit their needs and budget.  Once the client has chosen which route he wants to go down, we'll help find suitable aircraft in the global market and then perform the absolutely critical pre-buy inspection and evaluation.  We'll then fully assist the client with the purchase process, including shipping and importation where required."

"What we often find," explains Stone, "is that our client then wants to customise the aircraft to meet their personal colour scheme and interior design requirements and this work frequently sits alongside an avionics upgrade, other modification requirements and the likely transfer of the aircraft onto the UK, Isle of Man or an appropriate foreign register.  PremiAir has refurbished six aircraft already in 2007, including an S76, Dauphin and Twin Squirrel and there remains continual heavy demand on PremiAir's upgrade and refurbishment services.  Design and specialist work is all undertaken in-house and generally a major cabin refurbishment will take about three months, dependent on specific client design requirements."

"Executive Helicopter charter demand is also growing, with PremiAir reporting an 8% increase over 2006 levels to date, buoyed increasingly by more high net worth individuals and corporates recognising the value to their business and social life of very quick point to point helicopter travel for distances up to the 250 mile level," commented David McRobert, Group Managing Director.

PremiAir will be promoting its broad breadth of aviation support services at Stand No. 1206 at Duxford. 

David McRobert and Barry Stone will head up the company's participation at Helitech, joined by Christopher Forrest, Group Operations Director.

Barry Stone joined PremiAir in April this year to head up the engineering and maintenance team.  He brings to the company a wealth of experience in OEM, MRO and airline operations experience.  He has worked with BAE SYSTEMS, World Aviation Support, HeavyLift and latterly QinetiQ.   

PremiAir Engineering is currently getting fully prepared for the new Part 21M certification requirements, applicable to all commercial air transport with a MTOW of more than 5,700kg and multi-engine helicopters.

There is a requirement for all these aircraft to have continuing airworthiness managed by an organisation that is approved in accordance with Part M Subpart G.  (This stipulates that aircraft are required to be maintained to common maintenance standards specified in Part M Subpart D by an organisation that is approved in accordance with Part 145 and serviced by Part 66-qualified staff.)   

Under new EASA regulations, three constituent parts will now be required for the ongoing legal operations on an aircraft – continued airworthiness, aircraft maintenance and licensed engineers – all independent, separate parts of an organisation," explained Barry Stone.  "Under the new structure, owner/operators can continue, of course, to contract all these services from PremiAir."

Fleet expansion

PremiAir operates the largest fleet of twin-engine executive helicopters in the UK supported by a large team of pilots and backed by 24/7 operational support from its bases in Blackbushe, Surrey and Denham, Buckinghamshire.   PremiAir operates five Sikorsky S76 executive helicopters in both six and eight-seat configurations.  These aircraft are complemented by seven Eurocopter AS355 Twin Squirrels with four to five seats, plus one Bell 222 which can be configured to seat up to six passengers.  It also manages a 20-strong helicopter fleet for private operators.  Mid-size executive helicopters in the 109 Power, Grand, Dauphin and EC135 class are especially in demand in the charter market, notes David McRobert, adding that PremiAir is looking to add such sized aircraft to the fleet, ideally through additional management contracts.  

The London Heliport

PremiAir's parent company also purchased the newly named London Heliport in March this year, outlining plans to build a major new world class heliport facility for London on the existing site, which will be integrated with a new luxury hotel.  This new, very exciting business aviation development is scheduled to open in early 2009 and it will enable the existing facilities, first opened in 1959, to be replaced.    

Demand at the London Heliport is already outstripping 2006 and on the 1st August this year PremiAir was forced to introduce a slot allocation system, which is based on a first come, first served basis; designed to ensure that the Heliport complies fully with its annual movement limit of 6,000 landings.