French company Aviaxess has recently opened an FBO specifically for helicopters at Paris Heliport. The company will run its helicopter and jet timeshare programme at the same time as operating the new facility.

“Having an FBO for helicopters is a new idea,” said ceo Frederic Aguettant. “In France there is no other helicopter FBO. We only have traditional jet FBOs at the big airports. We thought that the customers and the crew needed a place to welcome their passengers, to have information for their own flight, a hangar to securely store their helicopter and all the services provided by a normal FBO.”

Car-parking is provided at the FBO, along with lunch and beverage facilities. Visitors have access to

a tv, computers and special accom-modation can be arranged if necessary. Fuel services are available, as well as limo transportation. “We thought it was important to have this at Paris Heliport,” he said.

“I used to work with jets and part of our current business is to rent or sell jets to our customers. We have an agreement with Bombardier Flexjet in Europe and we also represent Bombardier Flexjet in France. It’s because of these customers and the way they are treated, that we think it is necessary to do the same for our helicopter customers,” continued Aguettant.

“When helicopter operators land in Paris, they should have somewhere to park their aircraft inside for one night or more. And they need a place for their customers when the crew is waiting for the passengers.”

He said: “I want to promote it from Paris, because it’s a big city for helicopters and I think a lot of companies need these services.”

The FBO is not quite ready to begin operations, as some of the services need a little more work, even though it is ready to accommodate helicopters now. In one or two months time, Aguettant reports that everything will have been completed and the company will be ready for the official opening of the FBO in January 2004.

“Our current customers are very interested in the new facility. People have been waiting for something like this to come along,” he said. “I think that more FBOs specifically for helicopters may follow on from this.

“We provide a service which we would like to have considered as a real FBO in the wider FBO community. We have spoken with other companies, such as Signature and we have told them about our FBO at the Paris Heliport,” he confirmed.

“We will be promoting the new facility through our helicopter and jet timeshare programme. It actually involves the Bombardier jets and our own helicopters and a network of helicopter companies which we select from around Europe,” he said. “The customer pays for a package of hours, with a mixture of helicopters and jets and we think that the Paris FBO is a way to consolidate working with our customers. We want to take care of our customers in the jets, in the helicopters too and also on the ground. We think this is an opportunity for us to improve the way in which we serve our customers.”