Press Release
Issued by WingX Advance.
May 18, 2015
Ahead of the 15th European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE), which commences at Palexpo, Geneva, tomorrow, global aviation services company Gama Aviation believes that the European business aviation services industry will continue to see further consolidation in the coming years.
Marwan Khalek, ceo of Gama Aviation Plc, commented: “The global business aviation services market is undergoing a fundamental shift from the situation a decade ago when new entrants were able to carry out niche operations. Fleet and private owners now want their aircraft to be managed by a well-run, efficient and successful company who, through economies of scale, can pass on huge cost savings.”
Earlier this month Gama Aviation announced that it had successfully renegotiated a 400 location global tender for fuel as a direct result of its greater scale following its merger with Hangar8. Given a group consumption of more than 40 million litres last year, the company has naturally sought an economy of scale from providers and has embarked on a series of other scale-led procurement deals that it expects to lead to significant further savings for its client base across the world.
Gama Aviation believes that scale is becoming increasingly important within the global business aviation services market. Increasing costs as a result of factors such as additional regulation, training and maintenance requirements, and the inability to negotiate large scale fuel agreements, are placing additional strain on smaller operators. Indeed, Gama Aviation's analysis reveals that there was a 9% decrease in business aircraft operators in the EU between 2012 and 2013, with the largest decrease in numbers occurring amongst companies operating fewer than 10 aircraft. Gama believes that the increasing cost burden on small operators has played a major role in this drop in numbers.
Gama Aviation will be exploring the subject of consolidation at greater length in a seminar in association with leading independent business aviation intelligence agency WingX Advance during EBACE 2015. The presentation, entitled “Insights into a consolidating European aviation market”, will be presented by the company's managing director Richard Koe, and will focus on why consolidation is such a major topic in the current climate, presenting the underlying data behind the changes in the market.
Richard Koe, managing director of WingX Advance GmbH, commented: “Much of the European business aviation services market's inadequacies stem from a highly fragmented supply side with no dominant providers, which leads to inefficiencies in operational logistics and service delivery. In such a competitive and highly regulated marketplace, it is simply too inefficient for many smaller businesses to compete, so we expect to see a growing number of companies either merging or collaborating in an effort to reduce underlying costs to increase potential profit margins.”
Gama Aviation will be hosting a further three seminars during EBACE, focusing on upcoming regulatory changes, maximising the productivity potential of aviation ops software and providing the best in-flight culinary experiences. The culinary demonstration – the first ever demonstration of its kind at EBACE – will be delivered in association with On Air Dining, one of the world's leading in-flight dining experience providers and will showcase cutting edge food technologies, innovative techniques and modern styling, as well as a total of six dishes including starters, main courses and desserts.
Marwan Khalek continued: “At Gama Aviation we strive to provide the best possible service for our customers and we are proud to be associated with some of the industry's leading service providers. We have tailored the four seminars we are giving at EBACE to provide attendees with insight into key aspects of the operational side of business aviation. Our seminar on regulatory change, as well as being a pertinent issue for many attendees at the show, will underline our growing competency in ground and flight training programmes for both private and AOC operations.”
Gama Aviation is exhibiting at EBACE for the first time since completing a reverse takeover of Hangar 8 plc and being listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is exhibiting at stand V045 at EBACE 2015, which runs from 19th – 21st May at Palexpo in Geneva International Airport, Switzerland.
