Oriens Aviation is celebrating 10 years of operations. Recently settled into its expanded hangar facilities at its London Biggin Hill Airport HQ, the company is looking forward to imminently welcoming an additional Pilatus PC-12 on to its AOC, which will primarily be tasked with air ambulance missions. Later this spring it will add the first Pilatus PC-24 to its charter operation, alongside an existing Part-NCC HondaJet.

Oriens has diversified and grown significantly since it was first incorporated in 2015 by CEO Edwin Brenninkmeyer with just one employee. It has evolved into a thriving authorised centre for Pilatus and Tecnam aircraft and since summer 2022 has been a Cirrus Aircraft MRO partner.

Originally founded as a consultancy helping start-up companies write business plans and secure funding in the VLJ sector, Oriens Aviation today supports a 43-strong workforce in various sales, operations and MRO disciplines. Oriens invests in the local community through its apprenticeship scheme and has ambitious plans for its MRO expansion.

In the last decade the business has closed almost 70 aircraft transactions and completed close to 100,000 hours of aircraft maintenance. It averages four AOG requests a month and supports aircraft on six registries. It regularly handles two aircraft at the MRO facility for scheduled maintenance at any one time, in addition to drop-in requests. It was granted its AOC for Pilatus PC-12 aircraft by the UK CAA in 2023 to offer aircraft management and charter services.

Oriens has supported a major North of England Pilatus customer in scaling up its operation to include multiple PC-12s, as well as a PC-24, all while providing multiple flights aboard the PC-12 for Fly2Help, the charity that gifts memorable flights to terminally ill children and their families.

At least six PC-24s are scheduled to come to Oriens this year for annual inspections.

CEO Edwin Brenninkmeyer comments: “We have made great strides over the past decade, and I want to thank our fantastic team of exceptional employees for their continued support and dedication. We are now in a strong position for the next 10 years to take advantage of some significant advancements in aviation technology coming to market. We are following these developments with great interest.

“We will be looking to help our customers, suppliers and employees achieve more. We strive to be the first aviation service provider the UK general aviation industry think of, whether they require help with sales, maintenance or operations support,” he added.