Firm Is Strong And Growing Presence In Europe, Mideast,
Africa
A missing piece of the puzzle -- the aircraft-sales piece --
dropped into place for Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Service (LBAS)
on Tuesday, November 8th at the National Business Aviation
Association annual meeting and convention in Orlando, Florida.
"We want to share with you a fresh partnership for complete
support," LBAS Managing Director Andreas Kaden said. The German
maintenance and modification facility has been joined by ExecuJet
Aviation Group, an aircraft sales and aviation management firm
which began in South Africa, but is now headquartered in Zurich,
Switzerland.
LBAS can now offer every conceivable service from the selection
and completion of a new aircraft, to all maintenance and upgrades
throughout its entire life cycle, to its disposition and the
acquisition of a replacement. LBAS is a certified EASA and US FAA
Part 145 repair station, and also holds other national
certifications.
"Including -- and I would like to stress this -- Russia," Kaden
said.
ExecuJet isn't just signing a contract with LBAS. "We send them
a lot of maintenance business already," ExecuJet Chief Executive
Officer Niall Olver said at the press conference. It's also taking
a significant equity position, buying a share the company from
Bombardier.
The privately-held firm with 51% owned by Lufthansa Technik, 29%
by Bombardier, and the remainder in ExecuJet's hands.
"Why partner ... in the LBAS venture?" Olver asked. "To make a
long story short, our business is predicated on aircraft sales, and
the integration of services in support of aircraft sales. LBAS of
course have a strong reputation in aircraft maintenance. We believe
that we're a good fit as partners."
"Welcome onboard,
partner," Andreas Kaden said.
In response to a question his reasons for taking an equity
position instead of some other form of partnership, Olver said,
"We've found, around the world, that it just makes the most sense
to have money in the game."
LBAS concentrates exclusively on Bombardier's lines of business
aircraft: the LearJet, Challenger, and Global Express lines. It has
access to Bombardier technical data including the all-important
STCs.
The company began as a joint venture between Bombardier and
Lufthansa Technik in 1997. At the outset, LBAS employed about 17
workers. It now keeps 110 full-time employees busy. All technicians
are factory-trained by Bombardier.
The men in the photo are, from left to right: Bernhard Conrad,
Senior VP, Completion Center of Lufthansa Technik; Niall Olver, CEO
of ExecuJet Aviation Group; James Copeland, VP Bombardier Business
Aircraft; David Olcutt, VP Customer Support, Bombardier
Business Aircraft; and Andreas Kaden, Managing Director of
LBAS.
(Aero-News thanks Gregor Schlaeger of Lufthansa Technik for the
photo[s] of LBAS's maintenance facility in Berlin. The other photos
came from the LBAS website or were taken by Aero-News staff
photographers).