UK broker Air Charter Service (ACS) has taken on two new staff in a bid to increase its standing in the area of executive charter. Gavin Copus has joined the company from Air Partner and Andrew Hughes has joined ACS from Aircraft Chartering Services.

Hughes told EBAN: “There are several major players who are fairly well entrenched in this field but

we feel there’s room for someone to come in with a slightly different approach and perhaps shake

things up a bit.”

Established roughly 12 years ago, ACS has conducted the majority of its business through freight transportation. During that time, however, the company has built up a tidy database of clients with passenger charter requirements and is now ready to develop that aspect of its business.

Asked about the parts of Europe which are currently attracting plenty of charter business, Hughes explained: “As always, there’s quite a lot of trade going to and from Germany and Switzerland. What’s more, there’s a huge move towards the Eastern Bloc at the moment. Obviously a lot of corporations, particularly oil companies, are looking to move people into countries such as the Ukraine and Azerbaijan, and other regions around the Caspian Sea.

“Oil and gas reserves are driving investment, and companies are seeking to fly their executives there. As we speak, the scheduled services are patchy to say the least from Western scheduled airlines.

“There are local services in and out of these countries but a lot of Western organisations won’t consider them until their products have been further developed.”

Asked which aircraft are proving popular for European travel, Hughes said: “In terms of numbers, ease of access and economics, I’d say the Citation range is very popular. There are plenty of them around and they’re ideal for Europe.

“That said, I’m sure Cessna’s rival manufacturers will argue the same for their aircraft. A lot of it comes down to client preference and we probably see an even split between requests for Cessna and Bombardier aircraft.”

While ACS’ principal client base is the UK, the company says it has significant client numbers in Europe and a sprinkling of customers in the States and Africa. Once it is further established in the UK and Europe, it will then start to develop its worldwide offering.

In terms of the current business climate, Hughes is cautiously optimistic. He said: “I think things will probably remain as they are. Iraq is the big unknown quantity and that could have a huge effect on the market. When war broke out in 90/91, there was a huge downturn in the airline market.

“But I think it’s probably safe to say the suffering of the airlines is not being felt by the executive operators and I think they’re reasonably steady and enjoying moderate growth on the whole.

“From our own perspective, we’ve picked up significant levels of business in the last four months.”

As if to emphasise its challenge to competitor brokers, ACS is currently advertising for more new staff and a third broker – specifically charged with targeting the executive market – will be joining the company shortly.