Stapleford-based Aeromega has bought Direct Flight Limited, marking its first foray into fixed wing operations. Aeromega Group md Philip Sheldon told EBAN: “We’ve

just completed the purchase after

six months of negotiations.

“We saw huge synergies between the two companies and the contracts that Direct Flight already has in place make this a very serious acquisition.”

Direct Flight owns two Cessna 406s, both of which are committed

to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and operates a further two for the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency. The company has also secured a contract with British Aerospace Systems (Regional Aircraft) to operate a BAe 146 for meteorological research.

Said Sheldon: “The 146 has been stretched and modified to meet a meteorological survey requirement for the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurement (FAAM).

“Both this and the fisheries contracts are due to run for several years, so it puts us in a very stable position. The combination will diversify our services portfolio and accelerate our long-term growth.

“The next step for us now is to engage with the fixed wing community and acquire further contracts.”

Since Sheldon set up Cambridge Helicopters with Aeromega Group chairman Edward Kydd, he has rapidly expanded operations to first include Aeromega (two years ago) and now Direct Flight. “After purchasing Aeromega we’ve been investigating other aviation opportunities and this seemed perfect. We’ve also been expanding in other areas – we’ve just rolled out a brand new EC135 to Essex Police and are also about to open a third engineering operation,” he said.

Sheldon remained a director at Cambridge Helicopters, before recently acquiring the company

and expanding the group’s pilot training capabilities.

“We now have a number of new areas to get to grips with, so to talk

of any further expansions would be a little premature.

“Nevertheless, we’re going to

see how things go with Direct

Flight and continue to remain mindful of opportunities in the future,” added Sheldon./