Lombard funds new Cessna Caravan for Army Parachute Association | Press Release

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Press Release

Issued by Lombard Aviation.

August 24, 2007

Lombard funds new Cessna Caravan for Army Parachute Association

The Solent office of Lombard, the asset finance provider, has provided a flexible finance package to the Army Parachute Association (APA) to purchase a Cessna Caravan 208 aircraft to support the growth strategy of the business.

APA is based in Netheravon in Wiltshire. When it was first established in 1962 it was a military parachute club but for many years now the club has also been open to civilians. It was one of the first clubs in the UK to offer parachuting as a sport and has been growing in popularity ever since. In order to meet their growing customer demand, APA consulted their local Lombard team to discuss the possibility of purchasing an additional aircraft.

Paul Heath from Lombard worked actively with colleagues including Tanya Pierce, Head of Lombard Aviation to source the aircraft required and delivered a flexible five-year asset finance package to enable the purchase.

The Lombard team also agreed to do a sponsored parachute jump from the new Cessna Caravan on 17th August. Funds raised will be going to Naomi House, a children's hospice in Winchester that provides a homely environment for children and young people with life-limiting conditions that mean that they will not live to become adults.

Robin Durie, Army Parachute Association, commented: "We've used Lombard before and were very happy with the service and the flexibility that they offered so we were keen to use them again for this purchase. We're excited about adding the new plane as it allows us to meet the growing demand for jumps from existing and future parachute jumpers."

Paul Heath, Senior Relationship Manager of Lombard added: "APA is an established parachuting club that have played a big part in the growing status of extreme sports in the UK. We were happy to be working with them again to support their business growth. We were also delighted to do the parachute jump from the new plane and have chosen to support a local charity, Naomi House. We're still collecting and hopefully we'll raise a good amount for them."