Comet Handling has been operating at Scotland’s Edinburgh Airport since summer 2000. The company moved to larger premises in November last year and has recently begun promoting itself as a modern FBO.

EBAN spoke to Don Whyte, director of operations. He said: “We moved in November but the building needed a fair bit of work, it was really in the last month or so that we got it to a standard that we’re happy with. There was a flying club using the office before us – this left us with the job of doing some decorating and getting the lounge sorted out.”

Whyte went on to explain the benefits of Comet’s location: “Previously we were in an office that was too small, we were trying to combine office, lounge and operations areas and it made it difficult to expand. Now we have a building with passenger lounge, pilots’ rest area and operations area – a proper FBO so to speak.

“The new location stands alone with a fair bit of garden surrounding it. We’re in the process of tidying it up. There is a good view of the Pentland Hills offering pilots and passengers an area to relax in before the flight.

The company is currently handling aircraft mostly from Europe – a regular freight flight is operated between Scotland and Germany. Whyte reports that American traffic should start arriving in May and continue to do so over the summer period.

With regard to destinations, Whyte commented: “Switzerland seems to be quite popular just now. I don’t know why, it’s just a case of peaks and troughs. France is ever popular, overall it’s getting busy for the summer having been relatively quiet throughout the winter.”

Over the next twelve months, Whyte believes that the business will go from strength to strength. “We’re a small business just now, but we’ve put out a fair bit of advertising, both direct and via letters, faxes, emails and SITAs.”

Comet Handling is also looking to combine the services offered by its sister company Exec Travel, which provides chauffeur-driven cars. “We are hoping to offer a complete package with them, they have an office within the building, so if someone has a last minute booking we can arrange a car instantly.

“We’ve got another company that provides inflight catering. It’s basically a one-stop package so we don’t have to subcontract to anybody. We hope to expand this area to offer everything effectively from one phone call,” explained Whyte.

Plans for the future are based on getting the basics right first by expanding the handling, catering and transport. “If we get that right we’re 90 per cent of the way there. That’s what we’re concentrating on over the next twelve months – we don’t want to bite off more than we can chew,” he concluded.