Press Release

Issued by The Air Charter Association.

May 14, 2015

A recent survey of the members of The Baltic Air Charter Association (BACA) has delivered some very positive results. The survey was completed by 80 members of BACA, mostly brokers, operators and FBOs and the results makes very interesting reading. The current membership of BACA is 216 members so 80 replies represents a 37% response rate.

Nearly 72% of members who responded advised that during the last 12 months their sales revenue has increased or stayed the same. The same percentage had either increased or maintained their levels of profitability during the last year. One aspect that came through very clearly was that members had primarily seen their profitability grow by increasing their level of sales. The results show that 70% put their increased profitability down to an increase in sales while 12.5% reported that falling fuel prices had added to increased profitability. However, as a note of caution, 77% advise that increased competition is a key factor in driving their needs for efficiencies and vigilance in maintaining profit margins. However, the positive outlook was underlined by the fact that 81% of those who completed the survey are planning to increase staffing levels or at least remain the same.

With recent announcements such as the acquisition of the ExecuJet Aviation Group by Luxaviation, and the number of companies that are now part of Luxaviation, the members of BACA were asked about their plans for mergers and acquisitions. An incredible 44% of respondents have either conducted or are looking into the possibility of mergers and acquisitions. A result of that scale clearly indicates that more M & A announcements will be made in due course.

The Russia/Ukraine crisis appears to have had minimal impact with 59% of respondents saying it had no effect on their business. And while many members were aware of grey charters only 19% of respondents had reported grey charter activity.

Speaking about the survey BACA chairman Tony Coe said "I'm extremely happy that so many members took the time complete the BACA survey and delivered such a positive set of results. It is particularly pleasing to see that many of our members are planning to grow their businesses either by recruiting more staff or through mergers and acquisitions."