Air Charter Service has opened its third UK office, and its first in the north of England, in Manchester as it focuses on expanding its client base further in the thriving technology and sports markets in the region.

Chief executive Justin Bowman comments: “We have been looking into expanding our UK network for some time now and Manchester is the second most populous city in the UK, having overtaken Birmingham in recent years. It is a renowned technology and creative hub and is the fastest-growing city in the north of England, with the economy expected to grow at an annual rate of around 2.5 per cent over the next two years, making it the third fastest-growing city in the UK after London and Reading.

“The northwest is also an extremely busy sporting region, especially in football, with six Premier League teams within a 40 mile radius of Manchester, as well as many other large lower league teams. Air Charter Service is already a leader in aircraft charters for the football industry, having arranged more than 1,500 contracts in the past five years, and this new office is perfectly situated to increase our business even further in the UK. Heading up the new office will be Alex Sadat-Shafai. Alex originally joined us 18 years ago in our London headquarters and has worked in the group charter team since then. He now specialises, in particular, in charters for football teams, executives, sponsors and fans.”

Sadat-Shafai adds: “I moved here more than a year ago, with a plan to open this office when we had the correct set up in place, which we now do. I'm excited to be moving in and working with the new team. Initially we will be offering helicopter, private jet and commercial airliners, continuing to support our work in sports charters in the region.”