Execair is continuing its FBO expansion plans by spreading coverage to include Shannon. This follows on from Dublin becoming the company’s busiest station in the space of just eight months.

Alex MacDonald, operations director at Execair, said: “Ireland is one of the biggest markets for general aviation in Europe and we see a huge amount of potential. Shannon, for example, is one of the top five airports for US-bound GA traffic while Dublin is already the biggest of our 11 stations in Europe.”

Val Arthur has been appointed as operations manager of the Shannon facility. Said MacDonald: “Val has in-depth knowledge of the market in Shannon and will be a great asset to our business.”

Execair, wholly owned by Menzies Aviation Group, entered the Irish market last October with the acquisition of Parc Aviation Handling in Dublin.\r

More than £70,000 has recently been invested to refurbish the Execair lounge at Dublin Airport and a

new executive minibus to ferry crew and passengers between the lounge and aircraft has also been acquired. One of the company’s priorities has been to improve the airport environment for visiting crews and their passengers.

David Best, Execair’s commercial director, added: “We’ve had extremely positive feedback from customers in Dublin and encouragement to extend our network to Shannon. There is a growing business community in Ireland that requires the level of service we provide and the country is also one of the main technical stops for general aviation traffic.”

Execair is confident that extending its network to Shannon will be successful, particularly as the airport handled 6,700 general aviation movements last year.