Harrods Aviation has been named by Embraer as authorised sales representative in the UK and Ireland for its Legacy family of jets, and by Sikorsky as UK and Ireland rep for sales of its S-76C+ and S-92 helicopters.

Describing the Embraer deal as a significant step for Harrods, aircraft sales director Mike Creed said, “We already have within the company major divisions such as maintenance and handling, with FBOs at Heathrow, Luton and Stansted and our engine shop at Farnborough. So to add on a marketing and sales department in this way was a natural synergy.”

Describing the deal as having ‘huge potential,’ Creed added: “I’ve been watching Embraer for some years now, and they’ve been at the forefront of developing a number of types of aircraft. The ERJ145 and 135 have proved very popular with airlines such as British Airways and British Midland. From that they developed the Legacy, which is a derivative of the 145 with a luxury interior and longer range but with all the characteristics of airline operating costs. Airlines obviously want to have low operating costs and inexpensive parts and the Legacy product provides it all. But that’s not the only issue: It also has a fantastic performance criteria and the price is significantly less than anything else in its class, and it’s about a third as big again in the cabin than anything in its class. Overall, we were looking to have a few advantages: Price; performance; economics, and we’ve got all that with the Legacy.”

From the perspective of Harrods Aviation, the benefits of the Embraer deal are clear. So what could Harrods offer Embraer? Mike Creed explained: “They were looking for a company that could provide all the support in the corporate area and Harrods has been in the forefront in supporting aircraft for many years.

They wanted the full package including maintenance, so we have become a factory approved maintenance centre for the Legacy. We also have a handling operation, we can manage clients’ aircraft, we can put on charter, we can lease back, we can provide helicopter charter for those clients, so it’s a whole package we’re selling. On the marketing and sales side, they knew I’d joined Harrods and they knew my track record from old. They knew I’d performed in aircraft and helicopter sales, so it was the complete picture as far as they were concerned.”

In another significant development for Harrods, the company has been named by Sikorsky as non-exclusive sales representative for its S-76 and S-92 helicopters. Creed said: “Sikorsky has been well known to Harrods for many years, because we’ve been maintaining and operating their aircraft in our charter department, so we’re already a factory approved service centre. Our chairman owns a Sikorsky already which is for his own personal use and also available for charter. So when we were looking for the manufacturer of a prestigious helicopter to do business with, we wanted to have one that

had scope for future development.

The Sikorsky product has, of course, been going for many years and there are interesting new refinements and developments coming out in due course.” Creed added that Harrods Aviation has demonstrated

its commitment to Sikorsky by purchasing a brand new S76C+, to be delivered in July, for its own use and as its European demonstrator.

With a joint venture deal with Lufthansa Technik to offer UK maintenance for Boeing Business Jets also recently signed, Harrods Aviation is confident about the future, although Mike Creed is convinced that the general aviation industry has always been a buoyant one. He said: “I’ve been in this business for 35 years, and I’ve always heard people talking the business down. They get quite dynamic about market pressures, Dollar Pound relationships, what’s happening to aviation manufacturers in the USA, but I think the only significant factor that did have a bearing on the general market was the fuel crisis, and that was about it.”\r

Creed seems to defy the often cautious tone struck by many owners and operators when he says: “We’ve not seen a downturn in business. I would say that a couple of years ago, there was a little bit of an uncertainty in the marketplace and people were thinking, ‘Oh, it’s on the way down again’, but I have never, ever experienced that over the last few years. We’ve just been out to the NBAA and right across the board, the whole sector seems to be accelerating significantly. That’s why at Luton, in order to cope with the workload, we’re developing a huge facility with a brand new hangar and adjoining apron in addition to what we’ve got already. Overall, I’d say the industry is going up and up and it’s accelerating dramatically.”