Press Release
Issued by Green Charter 2022.
December 18, 2009
Sir Peter Rigby's Aviation Group, which trades as Patriot Aviation and Heliflight, has acquired London Helicopter Centres Ltd, the specialist helicopter charter and engineering company, headquartered in Redhill, Surrey and Enniskillen in Northern Ireland.
The strategic acquisition extends the Group's national coverage for flight training, charter, sales and engineering and firmly establishes its status as a leading aviation specialist in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, where it holds the Cessna and Schweizer distributorships.
The deal provides London Helicopter Centres with the best environment in which to expand and build on its specialist expertise and capabilities – particularly around Eurocopter, commercial helicopter training and VIP charter. Sir Peter's intention is to retain the three brand names within the group, promoting their specialist expertise and underpinning each brand specialism with sales resource, scope and scale.
Customers can now access an end to end service, from learning to fly and/or chartering a helicopter, to buying a new machine, refurbishing an older one, to high quality engineering and maintenance. In addition, scenic tours and affordable access to VIP charter are available out of five aviation hubs: Cranfield in Bedfordshire; Gloucester' Redhill in Surrey; Halfpenny Green in the West Midlands and Enniskillen in Northern Ireland.
Sir Peter Rigby said:
"I'm very excited about the opportunity to continue to grow and expand our Aviation Group. In particular, extending and developing our charter and aviation services in and around London. We can now offer VIP commuters a cost and time effective transfer into Battersea from Redhill in 10 minutes."
London Helicopter Centres has established an enviable reputation for training, engineering and VIP charter, offering a full maintenance, engineering and avionics service from both its Redhill, Surrey, and Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, bases.
Mark Souster founded London Helicopter Centres some 18 years ago. Much respected in the aviation sector, Mark will become Managing Director of Sir Peter's fast expanding Aviation Group. He will be responsible for the day to day delivery of growth and development of aviation services across all three brands.
Mark Souster said: "I'm delighted to be working alongside Sir Peter. I am confident that this move will give London Helicopter Centres the opportunity to evolve, expand and grow as part of this successful aviation group."
