Madrid’s Sky Service Aviation has started the New Year off with a bang, after inviting a new group of shareholders to join. Ground operations manager Jose Salvo said: “The formal takeover occurred in December. Our old shareholders are still at the company, but we’ve also been able to benefit from additional investment and aircraft.”

The first additions to the fleet are a Falcon 900EX and a Falcon 900B. “We are operating the 900EX on behalf of a new shareholder. The aircraft was previously operated by Gestair, but the owner has brought it here with him,” said Salvo. Sky Service will not charter the aircraft for the time being, although along with the 900B this situation may change.

This rapid growth has not been altogether easy, Salvo explained: “It’s been quite a lot of work preparing to incorporate these aircraft into our fleet. Obviously the original pilots didn’t come with the aircraft, so we’re now training new pilots while evolving our whole operation.”

The EX will be put to work straight away. “The owner travels on a long flight nearly every two weeks, either to the US, the Caribbean or South America. If we are travelling to the US it needs a stopover if the weather is bad. This is the first aircraft of its type that our company has operated and it’s an extremely comfortable ride. There are 12 seats inside, along with two bathrooms and a bedroom,” said Salvo.

Increasing the company’s charter capabilities is Salvo’s next priority, he added: “Within the next six months we are looking to change our charter programme. The EX may be added to our charter fleet and we would also like to charter the Falcon 900B, which will soon be with us.” A Learjet 55B will also be under Sky Service’s management within the next two months. Owned by another shareholder in the company, the aircraft will immediately be made available for charter.

“We’re now looking to expand and by the end of the year we want to offer a much improved charter fleet. There may not be a great deal of demand for aircraft such as the 900EX in Spain, but we will certainly be able to attract custom from outside the country,” said Salvo.