London Executive Aviation (LEA) is celebrating 20 years in business and has now completed its rebranding to Luxaviation UK as part of the Luxaviation Group.

Founded in 1996 in a hut at Stapleford airfield outside London as a two-aircraft air taxi service to ferry jockeys between races, founders Patrick Margetson-Rushmore and George Galanopoulos developed the operator to become one of Europe's largest business charter companies. In 2014, LEA joined the Luxaviation Group, the second largest operator of corporate aircraft in the world.

“We couldn't be more proud of this milestone anniversary and all that we have achieved as a company,” says chief executive Margetson-Rushmore. “Our consolidation with the Luxaviation Group has allowed us to have access to the group's 250 aircraft, 23 FBO facilities and an employee base of 1,500 worldwide. The next stage of LEA's journey, as we change our name to Luxaviation UK, will help us benefit from the group's global portfolio and to strengthen the UK's business aviation industry by bringing economies of scale to the market.”

Adds MD Galanopoulos: “All of the LEA staff, from our operations, maintenance and finance teams to our commercial, marketing and cabin crew employees have an absolute commitment to unrivalled customer service, the building block for the success of LEA over the last 20 years. Our industry knowledge and expertise complements the vast experience of the operators within the Luxaviation Group, and we will see our customers benefiting from the combined synergies as together we enhance best practice across all areas of the business.”

Today, LEA operates a fleet of 24 light, midsize and large-cabin aircraft, having added a Legacy 650 and a Legacy 600 in March.