Lombard Aviation, part of asset finance provider Lombard, has funded a Super King Air for the Cardiff-based DragonFly. Howard Palser, DragonFly founder and ceo, says: "We urgently needed this second aircraft to meet the growing number of requests flooding in. The purchase of the Super King was complicated as it was originally on the American register and needed to be transferred to the U.K.

"Lombard Aviation funded the initial acquisition of the aircraft together with the refurbishment costs and worked closely with my legal team in the transfer of the aircraft on to the U.K. register."

Tanya Pierce, head of Lombard Aviation, adds: "We needed to have a flexible package in place with short-term finance to match DragonFly's requirements but at the same time we had to be wary of the complications of transferring the aircraft to the U.K. register. It had to be a very workable bespoke solution."

The fleet addition (plans first reported in EBAN Nov 2006) will increase DragonFly's medical transplant capabilities as well as boosting its charter services to South Wales and other U.K. businesses.

Palser says: "Medical transplant flights is a sector in which the company has become more involved recently. The second aircraft has

been refitted to a vip seven-seat specification with the latest avionics."