Van Lattmann Corporate Communications (VLCC) has begun managing a corporate Dassault Falcon 900EX business jet for an international company. In addition to this, VLCC is also responsible for all its brand marketing and corporate communications. The company, which launched in January this year, has only been managing the Falcon for just over a month.

“As a company we manage the business aircraft and handle the corporate communications for a company which produces health and beauty products, creates perfumes and bath products,” said Oliver Lattmann, president and ceo. “We also create the artwork if they are marketing a new product. It’s a world wide company with headquarters in Hamburg, London, Paris and New York.

“It has had the aircraft that we are now managing for five years. The aircraft is on a private base, which is located in St Vincent, but our company does everything for the aircraft,” Lattmann continued. “We take care of all the corporate and executive aviation, we do flights for the government, all with the same aircraft. We organise pickup flights for the company if they need other aircraft or when the aircraft is having maintenance work done. Right now, the company is looking for a second aircraft, so we’re doing the aircraft evaluations, the financial and technical inspections that are necessary.”

“We are evaluating for a new aircraft for the company,” he explained, “the Global Express XRS is a good size. I think they will, depending on the financial situation, say yes at the end of 2005 and sign the contract at the beginning of 2006.”

VLCC is currently looking for demonstration flights on behalf of various manufacturers as part of the evaluation process.

“We’re looking to do the aircraft delivery, we supervise any complications at the factory and we’re involved in the certification and registration of the aircraft,” explained Lattmann. “We look for the type-certification programmes, concerning avionics. We also look for fleet contracts for the fuel, as well as doing all of the flight planning. We make sure that our customer gets all services from us.

“I have worked in aviation for a long time, but I stopped working due to health reasons and it was pure luck that I got to this company, I wasn’t looking for it – it came to me,” said Lattmann. “I was in contact with the company in order to make the brand communications for the Middle East market and then they told me that they had an aircraft, but not the right management. The management was done by the pilot and his colleagues, but the company were very unhappy with this arrangement,” he continued. “So I told him that I had done aircraft management for 15 years and it would be a good idea if I could do this for them.

VLCC was created to provide aircraft management for this international company. Currently there is only one aircraft, but Lattmann claims that he will be looking at adding two to four new aircraft in the next five years, if everything continues to work so well.

“For example, if we’re launching a product in Dubai, we would need to transport them over there and

also, we would need to use the aircraft ourselves to take care of the promotional tours. For me it’s very good. I manage the aircraft and I help them to bring their product to the market.”

Lattmann worked with Falcon 900 aircraft in his previous company and feels that this experience has prepared him well.

“In the future, if we have more aircraft, we may consider chartering, but with the Falcon 900 it makes

no sense,” he said. “The aircraft flies around 800-900 hours for the company per year and with maintenance time and everything else – it is fully booked by the company itself.