Press Release

Issued by CEPA (Central Europe Private Aviation).

February 2, 2010

Just over three months after founding the Central Europe Private Aviation (CEPA) association, the board has seen enormous interest from all sectors of the private aviation industry. The enthusiastic response has confirmed their belief that Central Europe has long needed an association to support and develop business aviation. As part of its mission to connect industry players both within the region and to the rest of the world, CEPA is hosting a conference this April 22-23 in Prague, the centre of Europe.

"There is this invisible border between the private aviation industries in Western and Eastern Europe, for many reasons. For example, if a Bulgarian company purchases jets with financing from a German bank and insurance from a French insurance company, they may be deterred by several barriers. CEPA is going to make these connections happen," said Dagmar Grossmann, Chairman and Founder of CEPA, and CEO of Grossmann Jet Services.

The private aviation industry in Central Europe has one of the largest growth potentials in the world, and CEPA's activities will open commercial and communication channels between markets as well as represent its members' interests on national, European and global levels.

CEPA's activities will hit full-speed when the Association hosts its inaugural conference April 22-23 in Prague, the central hub between Eastern and Western Europe. The conference will be held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Prague. Experts in fields related to private aviation will speak on key topics, and attendees can participate and provide feedback in panel discussions. Speakers will represent the entire spectrum of the industry, and include leaders from insurance companies, Czech government ministry, air traffic control and companies on the local CEE market; all sharing the challenges they've faced and their unique insight on how to create connections in Europe's airspace. The most exciting element of the conference is the opportunity for representatives from all over Europe to meet face to face, allowing opportunities for networking that, until now, was not always easy or accessible.

"This conference will bring together people from western Europe with people from Croatia, Bulgaria, Poland and other rapidly emerging markets that aren't always easy to connect with," Grossmann said.

In an exciting prelude to the conference, CEPA will announce a project that will not only affect the private aviation industry in Central Europe, but will capture the interest of the industry worldwide. The project will be announced at a press conference to be held April 22, at 11 a.m. at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

"This is going to put the spotlight directly on Central Europe," Grossmann said.