Stuart Payne has been appointed sales manager for Air Touring Limited, the UK and Ireland distributor for Aerospatiale Matra Socata. Payne has 11 years military and civil sales on piston and jet aircraft in the Middle East, and speaks fluent Arabic. In 1984 he was a member of the championship-winning British hang-gliding team, and gained his pilot's licence in 1986.

He will be marketing the TB9 Tampico, TB10 Tobago, TB20/21 Trinidads and TBM700 turbine, the latest Socata aircraft. "The level of interest from private owners, who in the past have traditionally purchased American manufactured aircraft, has been boosted over the last few years due to the launch of new models," stated Air Touring.