The Air Charter Association hosted its 2025 internship training week in August at London Biggin Hill airport, providing a fantastic opportunity for 15 young people aged 18-25 to access dedicated aviation training and experience practical onsite visits at one of Europe’s busiest business airports.

The ACA is grateful to Bombardier, Castle Air, Jetex, London Biggin Hill airport and Wallcourt Aviation for allowing the interns to tour their outstanding facilities.

Throughout the week, the interns had the opportunity to hear from a range of prominent air charter professionals, highlighting the diversity of career opportunities available in the industry: Andy Patsalides, marketing manager, London Biggin Hill Airport; Ekaterina Andreeva, head of business development, cargo, Chapman Freeborn; Fiona MacLeod, VP commercial, Air Partner; Juan Capilla, maintenance team manager, Bombardier; Mike Rivett, founder and MD, Churchill Aviation; Scott Butcher, regional sales manager, Gulfstream Aerospace; and Zoë Layden, managing director, Claveaux Consulting.

Following a week of insightful guest speakers, practical site visits and training on vital air charter industry knowledge, The ACA is pleased that all interns successfully passed their assessments and will soon be moving on to their work placements at ACA member companies. Member companies hosting intern placements: 8020 Communications, Air Charter Scotland, Air Partner, Chapman Freeborn, CharterSync, Gama Aviation, Hunt & Palmer, Volare Aviation, Saxon Air and Smart Aviation.

Jasmin Islamova-Maltby will be on placement with aviation and travel PR consultancy 8020 Communications in September. Following the training week at London Biggin Hill Airport, she says: “I've always been interested in aviation, but I didn't realise the range of different roles available in the industry until now. I've really enjoyed the training week, I've learned a lot and it was eye opening to hear everything.

“It was interesting to learn about being a broker, what that involves and their role in the industry. Another highlight was Andy Patsalides talking about his role as head of marketing at London Biggin Hill. I'm very happy that aspect was included in the internship, as that is an area I am interested in.

“As someone who was a complete beginner in aviation, this course has given me so much information that I can definitely absorb and understand. The team used a lot of real-life examples when they were presenting, and I thought bringing in the industry guest speakers was great for the same reason. There were people from all different areas and levels of the aviation industry.”

Benjamin Hauer will be on placement with air charter company Hunt & Palmer. Of the training week, he says: “I've learned loads and learned more than I thought I would in the short space of time; it has been run really well.

“One thing I've enjoyed was learning more about the speakers that came in and the insights they gave and particularly learning more about the charter broker side of things, which is really interesting. There's a lot more to it than I was expecting, which is actually more enticing, because there'll never be a boring day.

“I'm applying to charter broker roles. I've just finished uni, so I'm itching to launch into the industry. What brought me here was the enticement of aircraft leasing, it being so big in Ireland and an industry-leading area. So coming across air charter and charter brokering is, I think, a cool stepping stone to that.

“My dad was a pilot, so that's where the aviation inspiration comes from. I'm now looking to complete my PPL, but while I don't want to fly as a job, I still have a love and passion for planes.

“Sustainability is something that I've been increasingly aware of. Obviously with technology, advancing aircraft are becoming more sustainable. But it's not just the aviation industry that is worried about that; all sorts of big corporations, companies, industries are trying to work together to build that sustainable model. At the end of the day, we do need this industry, we need aviation and it saves a lot of lives at the same time and can help contribute towards advancements that are more sustainable.”