German operator MHS has added a second Challenger 300 to its fleet and has been awarded ARGUS Gold Plus status following a six month audit process. A Falcon 2000LX, which will be available for charter, is also expected in July.

The operator flies five Challengers in total. “The Challenger 300s do not perform much charter because one of them is often used for owner flying,” states CEO Steffen Fries. “But it has brought us an additional customer base. Before we were offering lighter jets and heavier jets only, whereas now we have the CL300 in Avinode and we can offer that segment too. It is a very comfortable aircraft with good range, but it is not transatlantic. We have closed the gap and are a full range provider now with a fleet ranging from a Phenom 100 to a Global Express.”

The ARGUS Gold Plus rating ensures that MHS' processes, organisation and structure are built in a robust manner. “We can ensure a safe and reliable organisation that is very customer focused,” Fries continues. “It is about translating the business into the real world and day-to-day operation, and this benefits the customer enormously.

“There were no adverse safety findings along the way. We expect to receive Platinum in a year's time because now we really know what ARGUS means. People think it is merely a case of having the logo on your web site but I must emphasise that it is much more than that. We have improved heavily over this audit process. We had to make adjustments and further improve on quality.”