The news that Swiss-based GV Executive is to open a dedicated management facility may have come as a surprise to some, as this well established company has always maintained its position not to mix management with charter. But this has now changed, with the announcement that the company plans to open a subsidiary for management in the London area. The exact location will be decided later this year with the facility expected to be operational in 2005.

GV chairman and ceo Peter Fried explained his reasoning behind the decision: “We have traditionally held the position that aircraft management does not fit into the pure charter business. In fact it is conflicting. That is why we work differently to most other companies, owning the aircraft and operating them strictly for commercial charter. But we have been asked by so many private owners and parties, including the manufacturers, to put our expertise into these private aircraft that finally I have decided to do just that. But it has to be a special purpose company.”

Having made the decision to expand in this manner, Fried is clear about the focus. He says: “It will be a straightforward aircraft management company with its own flight operations, dispatch centre, adminis-trative offices and technicians. The company will basically do the flight planning, and whatever else is connected with aircraft management. And there will be no out sourcing. We will do everything in house.”

Fried makes no apologies for the fact that the GV Executive facility will, at first, only cater for Gulfstream and Legacy aircraft. He says: “That’s simply because we believe that’s the area in which we have the greatest expertise. Of course the customer will benefit from the knowledge of these aircraft that we’ve gained from our charter business. Everybody knows our main aircraft are the GV, the G550 and the Embraer Legacy. This does not mean that at a later stage we will not take other aircraft but for now I’ve limited it to those types. GV Executive’s pedigree in the areas Fried describes is certainly impressive, something he believes will be a major factor in attracting custom. He says: “On the technical side it’s essential we have the level of knowledge to give the right service to customers. We were the first company to operate the GV commercially and we believe we are still the fleet leader in terms of flight hours, with that aircraft having run over 8,000 hours in six years. We were also the first operator of the G550, running that aircraft at 1,000 plus hours in less than half a year. And again we were the first operator of the Embraer Legacy on commercial operations. This is our core business, our bread and butter.”

Why London? For Fried the reasons are straightforward: “The main reason is that the London area is very centralised between the US and the Middle East. It’s the central location for Europe, which if you combine

with the variety of airports in the region makes it an ideal place.” But London has more to offer than just a prime geographic location, as Fried explains: “The expertise of the people living in the area is also a factor for us. It has the sort of employees we’re looking for and we’re hoping to create five jobs at first, rising to 10 depending on business.”

Initially Fried expects the facility

to handle between two to five aircraft, and he sees no problem in expansion, though he strikes a cautious note when he says: “A management company is easily expandable and can grow very quickly if you let

it, because you can take as many aircraft as the market will allow.

But it all depends on the market and for now we’re restricting the type of aircraft we take on.”

On the charter side Fried expects GV Executive’s core business to continue to build, but slowly. He

says: “It’s one or two more aircraft with a very slow growth and strictly on the fleet type that we have

now and possibly a second Legacy as well in the next year. But on the aircraft management side it’s a question of markets.”