German operator DC Aviation is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Founded in 1998, DC Aviation started life as DaimlerChrysler Aviation, a 100 per cent subsidiary of automobile manufacturer DaimlerChrysler AG, and began flight operations in mid-1999, initially to provide mobility for corporate management with two Learjet 60s and two Challenger 604s. Starting January of 2000, an additional Airbus A319 provided a reliable connection between DaimlerChrysler's two corporate headquarters, performing shuttle flights between Stuttgart and Pontiac/Detroit five times a week for seven years.

In January 2007 the holding company Aton GmbH, owned by the entrepreneur Lutz Helmig, purchased DaimlerChrysler Aviation and in May of the same year DC Aviation received its current name after a merger with Cirrus Aviation, a private flight-services company operating out of Saarbrucken. In 2011, DC Aviation took another important step to enhance its international presence by entering into a joint venture with the Al-Futtaim Group at the Dubai airport. In 2016, DC Aviation topped off its broad service range with a licence for the commercial operation of helicopters.

Today, the company operates 27 fixed-wing aircraft and two helicopters, with headquarters at Stuttgart airport and local representations in Dubai, Malta, Moscow and Paris, employing approximately 330 people. With services ranging from aircraft management, business jet charter, maintenance of business jets and aircraft handling to consulting concerning strategic issues and aviation law and regulations, today DC Aviation offers a complete portfolio.

CEO Michael Kuhn explains: “With our comprehensive one-stop service we are truly unique in Germany and we are excellently positioned for future international competition through our local representations. As one of the leading providers, DC Aviation understands the wants, needs, and desires of internationally acting business customers.”

In one of the industry-wide largest hangars, the company performs its own maintenance on all aircraft models ranging from the Airbus A319 CJ and Gulfstream G650 to the Cessna Citation XLS+. In an area of 5.000 sqm, over 80 highly qualified technicians are available for all base and line maintenance services. With its EASA Part 145 certified maintenance operation, DC Aviation offers its own customers maximum reliability and discretion. Meanwhile, this service portfolio has evolved into a business field of its own: DC Aviation's convincing maintenance services are now used increasingly by external customers, as well.

It is partly due to its high safety requirements that DC Aviation says it can show a spotless safety balance over the entire 20 years of its existence. Last year, the company was awarded the EBAA Diamond Award of Merit by the European Business Aviation Association for over 100,000 hours of safe flight operation, an award received by only a very small number of business jet operators so far. A few weeks ago, DC Aviation also received certification for the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO). Kuhn adds: “We are very proud of this milestone. It emphasises our company's high safety awareness and the superb competence of our entire team.”