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Festive cheer for Gama amid special mission contract wins
The Christmas period has brought in contracts aplenty for Gama. The operator will take delivery of two H145s in the fourth quarter of 2019, and will also embark on two special mission contracts in the UK.

Gama Aviation has been awarded an 11-year contract commencing 1 April, 2019 for the provision of maintenance and spare parts logistical support for eight government special mission aircraft. The deal more or less covers the same scope of services and terms as Gama currently provides under a similar contract that is due to expire on 31 March, 2019. The latest contract is expected to deliver revenues of between GP£66 million and GP£88 million over the term.

A second contract for the operator, commencing on 1 July and running for five years, is to support four special mission aircraft by drawing on a range of specialist services unique to Gama Aviation's holistic business model including aircraft modifications, maintenance and flight operations. This deal is expected to deliver overall revenues of approximately GP£27.5 million.

The combined effect of both contracts is expected to be neutral to earnings in 2019 and accretive thereafter.

Gama has also placed a GP£20 million firm order for three Airbus H145 helicopters to be delivered in Q4 2019. The rotorcraft will be deployed in support of an existing long-term contract from 1 June 2020, when the company will deliver the rotary element of the service directly rather than through its current sub-contractor. It is expected that at least 85 per cent of the purchase price will be funded through a traditional loan or lease structure.

CEO Marwan Khalek comments: "We are delighted with these contract awards, which endorse the company's strength in the UK special mission market segment. This is as a direct result of our strategy to continue to build our depth of capability and breadth of service offerings to derive steady and profitable revenue growth for our European division.

“These medium and long-term support contracts, which we have a strong track record in winning, significantly improve the forward visibility of our revenues and enhance our earnings in the mid to long term."

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