Marshall Aerospace has recently

upgraded its amenities and

introduced the Marshall Exec Air

Centre, its first corporate FBO facility

at Cambridge, UK.

“We upgraded last summer and

actually launched the centre in

October 2003,” said Glynis King,

marketing manager. “We had some

existing accommodation here, where

some of our tenants were based, but

they relocated somewhere else, so we

actually took over their premises.

We refurbished it, redecorated it,

added new furniture and introduced

a new design.”

The centre has a corporate lounge,

crew rest areas and meeting facilities,

fax machines, internet access,

computers, televisions and

refreshment facilities.

“The reason for creating the new

facility was that we didn’t have

anywhere within the company that

we could offer to our crews and

passengers who may be delayed for

one reason or another,” King

explained. “Sometimes we get crews

who come in and need somewhere

to rest and wait for the day and we

didn’t have any area of a suitable

standard. We wanted to offer a

better facility and service to our

corporate executive customers.

“It was also introduced to go with

Marshall Executive Aviation, which is

our charter company and it’s another

area for the passengers waiting to go

on to the charter flights, if that’s

necessary,” she continued. “Up until

now they didn’t have anywhere to

wait. We launched MEA in April

and that was another reason to

create this space.

“We felt this was something that

other airports had, for instance Luton

and Stansted, they all have these

lounges and waiting areas. For us to

be able to compete, we needed to

offer a similar service too.”

King is quite certain of the new

facility’s appeal. “The new facility has

already attracted new customers,”

she said. “Quite honestly I think it’s a

case of word of mouth.

“I am spending a week in

Savannah this month at the NBAA

Schedulers and Dispatchers

Conference,” she continued. “We’re

market and divert them away

from the usual places, such as Luton,

and we’re finding that a lot of

Americans aren’t aware of the

alternatives. To them, England is

Luton!” she laughed.

“It will be the start of trying to raise

our profile out there. I think it will be

quite challenging and it’s not

something that’s going to happen

over night, but we do hope that if we

keep chipping away and making

contact, networking and spreading

the news of our facilities, that we’ll

see more jets coming in,” King

continued. “Through MEA, we

charter our company Citation and

we have the AOC for that. We’ll

be running all MEA operations from

the Air Centre.

“We’ve also recently been awarded

a three-year contract to provide airfuel

and ground-maintenance for the

Duxford Imperial War Museum at

their airfield. We also did what we call

runway friction testing with Cranfield

University and Duxford, so we’ve

been very busy,” she said.

In other news, a special birthday

was recently celebrated at Marshall

Aerospace. “We were exceptionally

pleased that Sir Arthur Marshall

was able to celebrate his 100th

birthday in Cambridge,” said King.

“And for it to fall within days of

the centenary celebrations of the

Wright brothers’ first powered flight

was just amazing.”

trying to tap into the American

market and divert them away

from the usual places, such as Luton,

and we’re finding that a lot of

Americans aren’t aware of the

alternatives. To them, England is

Luton!” she laughed.

“It will be the start of trying to raise

our profile out there. I think it will be

quite challenging and it’s not

something that’s going to happen

over night, but we do hope that if we

keep chipping away and making

contact, networking and spreading

the news of our facilities, that we’ll

see more jets coming in,” King

continued. “Through MEA, we

charter our company Citation and

we have the AOC for that. We’ll

be running all MEA operations from

the Air Centre.

“We’ve also recently been awarded

a three-year contract to provide airfuel

and ground-maintenance for the

Duxford Imperial War Museum at

their airfield. We also did what we call

runway friction testing with Cranfield

University and Duxford, so we’ve

been very busy,” she said.

In other news, a special birthday

was recently celebrated at Marshall

Aerospace. “We were exceptionally

pleased that Sir Arthur Marshall

was able to celebrate his 100th

birthday in Cambridge,” said King.

“And for it to fall within days of

the centenary celebrations of the

Wright brothers’ first powered flight

was just amazing.”