For the year to date, London Oxford Airport increased the number of average daily business aviation departures by 12.2%, year-on-year up to September 2011 according to the latest statistics released by Eurocontrol.

In the Eurocontrol report, London Oxford Airport ranks fifth in the UK with an average 7.8 daily business aviation departures, up from an average 6.9 last year, which represents a growth of 12.2% over the past year.  Ahead of Oxford were London Luton (34.2 daily departures) Farnborough Airport (27.5) Biggin Hill (14.5) and London City Airport (8.9).  A marked slide by London Stansted positioned it in 8th place behind East Midlands and Bournemouth airports.

UK Business Aviation Activity – Year to Date to September 2011
Top 10 UK airports* ranked by Average Daily Business Aviation Departures

1. London Luton
2. Farnborough
3. Biggin Hill
4. London City
5. London Oxford
6. East Midlands
7. Bournemouth
8. London Stansted
9. Edinburgh
10. Manchester

* UK mainland airports excluding MOD (Military) airports

“This buoyant business is great news, demonstrating the attraction of our airport to business and VIP travellers.  August was surprisingly busy for a holiday month, total GA movements increased by 49% compared with last August.   We hope this trend continues for some time as business aviation sees a welcome increase in activity,” said James Dillon-Godfray, Business Development Director at London Oxford Airport.

With a newly won UK AOC and a second Learjet 45 joining its new base at London Biggin Hill, Switzerland-based aircraft charter and management company Perfect Aviation is building up its presence in the UK.

Perfect has built an experienced team at Biggin Hill, including newly appointed Ground Operations Manager Gary Whitecunas, Quality Manager Barry Holloway and Director of Maintenance, Nigel Cooper. Its UK AOC, obtained in June, complements Perfect’s Portuguese AOC awarded two years ago when it first commenced revenue operations.

Perfect now operates six aircraft under management. The company’s two UK-registered Learjet 45s join an existing Portuguese registered fleet including a Challenger 604, Learjet 60XR and Falcon 2000EX Easy, all under a Portuguese AOC, together with a privately managed Global Express XRS, based in Moscow. Further large cabin aircraft are scheduled to join the fleet before year end.

Will Curtis, who has considerable experience leading business aviation companies in the UK and the Middle East, was appointed CEO of Perfect Aviation in early 2010 with a mandate to restructure and develop the company for further growth. Now based in Switzerland at company headquarters close to Geneva, he has put together a strong management team at Perfect to help grow the business internationally. The new base at Biggin Hill is complemented by an operations base in Lisbon, Portugal. The company also has Sales Offices in Monaco, Moscow (Perfect Aviation will also be represented at Jet Expo this week) and in Beijing in China where it intends to grow its presence to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in that region.

“I am very pleased to bring the Perfect brand and ethos to the UK, along with a terrific management team,” said Will Curtis. “I have long been a keen supporter of London Biggin Hill Airport and the close network of the business aviation sector in the UK. Looking ahead, building up our business here is well timed with the approach of the Olympics in 2012 and hopefully some economic growth thereafter.

“Over the next 12 months we hope to add to our managed fleet, expand our maintenance and technical capabilities in Europe, enter new beneficial partnerships, generate increased revenues and better collaborations and equally importantly, have some fun along the way.”