Press Release

Issued by Northpoint Aviation Services.

January 3, 2011

A newly offered 14 seat executive-configured Fairchild Metro III is being based in Birmingham Airport from January 2011. The aircraft is being operated by the increasingly pan European, Valencia-based Aeronova. Operating since 1996 the company has now grown its Metro fleet to six aircraft of the type.

Aeronova is probably best known for its comprehensive ad hoc cargo charter offering, and it has a well deserved reputation for speedy and professional response to the widest range of missions mostly in northern Europe. However already 20% of its work is in passenger charters, and company MD Javier Olivares says this development is part of its firm plans to increase the passenger share of its total business. "We have seen our business increasingly draw us into the UK, German and northern European markets, and our contacts and brokers would like us to broaden our offer to them. We already undertake a regular oil related passenger rotation between the Netherlands and East Anglia each Wednesday. We have also strengthened our German infrastructure by investing in engineering and maintenance support in Nurnberg. However we wanted to offer a completely dedicated passenger Metro in the UK market. Fortunately the owners of the immaculately re-fitted EC-GUS were happy to let us build upon our previous occasional use of the aircraft."

Basil O'Fee of Northpoint Aviation, who have been appointed as the UK and Irish passenger charter GSA for Aeronova observed, "This aircraft really gives ourselves and the air brokers a completely new and unmatched offering. Small to medium sized groups currently have to often commit to much larger solutions than they require, and this 14 seat option will be greatly welcomed in the UK market. The aircraft interior and layout will add an extra level of comfort and luxury to the journey.

It should not be forgotten that the current 18 seat availability of the other Metros will continue with special weekend discounts, when typically the aircraft have more availability, being offered to leisure users, such as sports related groups. Also the UK market does not fully appreciate that we can access an 18 seat passenger configured Metro from Lydd in Kent most Tuesdays and Thursdays, because of its other current commitments. In effect we have 14 and 18 seat examples of the type available for the passenger market, and both are ideally placed for UK South East originating trips. Naturally I am happy to discuss any current and emerging mobility requirements that you might have."

The Fairchild Metroliner SA227 is well known as a reliable and surprisingly agile and speedy twin engine pressurised turbo-prop. The aircraft will be attractive to business and leisure parties wishing to move between within the UK and points in Ireland, France, Germany, Benelux and Scandinavia.

As part of Aeronova's increasing internationalisation an aeronova.co.uk website now sits alongside its multi-lingual aeronova.com portal. Software developments and investments now ensure that speedy and highly accurate quotations and itineraries can be automatically created, and missions can be moved to contract stage faster than many operators can manage. This reflects the ad hoc cargo provenance within the company's recent developments.

The Aeronova team is very much multi-lingual and European with Dutch, UK, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish staff supporting the increasingly widely spread operations. The company is well supported by its main shareholder the long established Suñer Group, which is a large Valencia-based holding company with a substantial combined annual turnover of more than 300 million Euros. There are further interesting plans and investments in the pipeline.