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CEPA Expo – successfully bridging East and West
December 13, 2011. Expanding horizons was the overriding theme of the conference, attended by some 120 delegates from East and West. On trend was guest speaker Radek Špicar, VP of the Czech Industry Association, whose own company Škoda (now owned by Volkswagen) has opened plants in India, China, Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. “We have had to learn global thinking at Škoda,” he said. We are keeping competitive by going overseas, which has also shielded us from the Eurozone crisis. He highlighted too, that despite 50 years of communist rule, there is an excellent quality of staff in this region. There is good tertiary education, good universities, good engineers and technicians.
CEPA Expo also focused on education and the need for collaboration. Educating decision makers about the value of our industry is vitally important, said the European Business Aviation Association’s new Chief Executive Fabio Gamba, who highlighted EBAA members will show a 3.5 % growth this year, driven by the benefits of point to point aviation. “This region suffers from the same misconception as we do and is under pressure from the same political monsters,” he said, with the imposition of new regulations and hefty taxes. There are many challenges to overcome –including ETS, slot allocation rules, and access to European airports, he advised.
The CEE region is no longer just a ‘destination’ for corporate clients flying in but a destination in its own right, said Air Partner plc Director Private Jets David Macdonald. It is well placed right in the middle to serve East and West and there are considerable opportunities for operators in the region to grow their fleets, he opined. CEPA Expo heard that the region already has a good supply of base operators. Air Partner was participating on the Western panel with Martin Lener, CEO of established Austrian operator Tyrolean Jets and Jonathan Sumner of new ‘seat only’ business jet company Fly Victor. While Air Partner talked up the importance of client care and having that personal touch, Sumner talked up creativity in charter channels and using the power of the internet to drive business jet travel. Victor, which now has nearly 600 ‘members,’ launches a German website next month. “There will always be a segment that wants the full telephone service, but considering the younger demographic in Eastern Europe, online booking, coupled with the opportunity to buy on a per seat basis has huge growth opportunities in the region,” said Sumner.
The CEPA conference explored many pressing challenges in the region – illegal charter is a concern, the perception of corruption and the importance of instilling proper codes of conduct as there is no law enforcement for foreign investors. There is a good supply of business jets in the region, delegates heard, but the majority of companies are running micro operations with two aircraft and just seven or eight staff, which wouldn’t be possible in Western Europe.
How big is the market in terms of business jets
According to Ascend, part of the FlightGlobal Group, there are a total of 1,422 business jet and turboprop aircraft in the Central European Union, which includes Germany (685), Switzerland (300) and Austria 270. There are 58 aircraft in the Czech Republic, 42 in Poland, 25 in Slovenia, 19 in Slovakia and 15 in Hungary. The market is also dominated more by light jets and turboprops where operators have an average of three aircraft, according to Phil Davies, Director of Operations, who highlighted that Russia is a completely different market. “The light jet market is much more dynamic here,” said Business Development Director Brendan Lodge from JetBrokers Europe. Russia’s HNWIs favour wide-bodied, large cabin jets, however, Cessna Director Sales David C. Glassner stressed that Russians regularly charter light jets.
Lack of finance for buying jets, particularly for deals under $10 million (where most of the activity is here) is a significant issue. Katerina Barilov, head of EMEA structured finance at Hawker Beechcraft, said that there were opportunities to use US Export-Import Bank guarantees.
Werner Slavik, Head of Aircraft Finance at HYPO Luftfahrzeuge Leasing, said that buyers need to allow more time to get finance than in the past. Some lenders are also preoccupied with managing existing portfolios. Dr Daniel Luetolf, CEO, Swiss Aviation Consultants, stressed the importance of monitoring aircraft and – in particular – aircraft records. He also said that the worst is not over. “Business jet values will be hammered in 2012,” he predicted.
JetBrokers Europe Brendan Lodge agreed that values for some types may fall, but he also advised now is a good time to buy. “No one can predict the value of an aircraft in six months but aircraft are trading at a big discount to three years ago,” he said.
Aircraft purchasing these days has become more and more complex. “A contract is only as good as the person that is going to sign it,” said Oliver Stone, Managing Director of Colibri Aircraft, “but when an aircraft is registered in the Isle of Man, owned by a Trust in Bermuda, whose shares are owned by a holding company in Cayman Islands, who is selling and who are you buying for?” “No one, unless there’s a deposit, and until then there’s no deal,” said DLA Piper Partner Alan Cunningham, who together with Clyde and Co Partner Mark Bisset gave some valuable insight into avoiding paying VAT on business jets.
Other topics debated at CEPA included fractional ownership. Delegates heard it would be hard to make it work in the region, because the market is so price conscious, everyone wants discounts. Dagmar Grossmann CEO of Grossmann Jet Service talked about the value of pilots, their salaries and the factors to keep loyalty among personnel drawing on her long career in the CEE region. She observed that retention management in HR needs to be considered in order to keep staff motivated and skilled.
Airports Vodochody Prague and Gdansk talked about their commitment to business aviation, the former disclosing it would most likely turn to a third party to help it build a dedicated FBO it was planning for 2014, dependent on completion of a successful environmental study. Bratislava, Slovakia based operators VRJet and Opera Jet talked about how they were both experimenting in new markets – Opera Jet basing one of their Cessna CJ3s in Russia and VRJet, basing one in Prague.
After a successful two-day event at the Prague City Congress Centre and a gala dinner at Corinthia Towers hosted by Grossmann Jet, delegates had some very positive things to say about CEPA Expo. David C. Glassner at Cessna complimented the organisation on attracting both ‘quantity and quality’ of delegates. Byron Severson, Regional Sales Director Hawker Beechcraft and lead sponsor said it was a very interesting conference with some excellent topics. “CEPA is going to be a very important organisation in the future,” he concluded.
The event was moderated by Jiří Matoušek, Chairman of CEPA since January 2011, whose experience of over 17 years in the European aviation industry provided valuable insight to the panel discussions.
CEPA would like to thank its sponsors
Hawker Beechcraft, Grossmann Jet Service, Swiss Aviation Consulting, Cessna Aircraft Company, Hayward Aviation, ARINC Direct and Nexus Flight Operations Services.
New EBAA CEO, Fabio Gamba heads the strong line up at CEPA Expo in Prague
November 22nd, 2011 - This year CEPA Expo will welcome newly appointed EBAA CEO, Fabio Gamba for the first time. Gamba, an experienced aviation professional who has held senior positions at the Boeing Company and most recently, as Deputy Secretary General of the Association of European Airlines (AEA), will be using his expertise to help business aviation grow and develop its vital role in Europe. His delegates’ address will highlight the challenges and successes of EBAA over the past 10 years and discuss how these lessons can be utilised to assist CEPA in reaching its main goal: connecting East and West in business aviation.
A further highlight of CEPA Expo will be the manufacturers’ panel with leading companies including OEM’s Hawker Beechcraft, Cessna and Bombardier having already confirmed their participation in the event. A legal panel will explore the theme of regulatory complexities and an afternoon session run by Alasdair Whyte, Editor of Corporate Jet Investor, will debate air finance and aircraft availability in the region. Further themes will cover a variety of topics particularly pertinent to the region, including an overview of the importance of business aviation in terms of economic development; where the business aviation sector is in the commercial life cycle; and how the functioning airspace will affect future development. Panelists and delegates are also anticipated to discuss infrastructure development, Dagmar Grossmann, CEPA founder, will focus on human resource requirements and potential new business models for the region. Edwin Brenninkmeyer, CEO and Founder of Oriens Advisors will be moderating the panel of western brokers and operators which will aim to share experiences and suggest best practice. Other speakers which include David Macdonald, Director Private Jets, Air Partner; Mike Creed, Quest Helicopters; Brendan Lodge, Business Development Director, JetBrokers Europe; and Jonathan Sumner, Managing Director, Victor will join lively debate with counterparts from Eastern Europe.
Dagmar Grossmann, founder of CEPA, leads aviation panel at the XXI Economic Forum in Poland.
Dagmar Grossmann, CEO of Grossmann Jet Service in Prague and founder of CEPA Central Europe Private Aviation, will be talking up the importance of aviation - East meets West - at next week’s XXI Economic Forum in Poland. CEPA, which has become an official partner of the XXI Economic Forum, will be represented by its Chairman, Jiri Matousek. The Economic Forum, acknowledged as the “Davos of Central and Eastern Europe,” is a three day conference taking place during 7-9 September 2011 in the Polish spa resort Krynica Zdroj. 2,000 business leaders and influencers from 60 countries will attend the event. Dagmar will be joined by industry panellists Ross Mitchell, Director Sales Central and Eastern Europe for Bombardier Business Aircraft and aircraft values specialist Oliver Stone, Managing Director, Colibri Aircraft, the UK based aircraft sales and brokerage.
Together they will highlight the challenges in aviation today and in the future, the importance of the corporate aircraft as a business tool and Dagmar Grossmann will address the obstacles she has encountered in building up a sustainable business, including considerable human resources issues. She will also look at what lessons can be learned and adapted from counterparts in the west that seem to have far fewer problems setting up new bases throughout Europe. She will also discuss the need to encourage more aviation businesses in the CEE region and how to realise the terrific opportunities opening up there. The panel session featuring Dagmar and her colleagues will be held on September 9 from 14:55 in the Rzeszow room of the Dom Forum.
The Krynica Economic Forum, held annually since 1991, is a prestigious recognized event in Central and Eastern Europe. Its mission is to create a favourable climate for the development of political and economic cooperation between the EU and neighbouring countries. Krynica is an important point on the political map of the world where on such large-scale East meets West. Among participants are: experts and leaders of political, social, economic and cultural life of Europe, Asia and America. For more information see: http://www.cepa.aero.
Business Aviation presents its case to Central European Powers
Krynica Zdroj, September 9, 2011 - Three members of the business aviation community discussed the role of private aircraft in a region’s economic growth during the Economic Forum in Poland 2011, at the mountain spa town of Krynica Zdroj. Oliver Stone of Colibri Aircraft Ltd., Dagmar Grossmann of Grossmann Jet Service and the Central European Private Aviation Association, and Ross Mitchell of Bombardier joined a panel alongside the Polish Minister for Infrastructure, the President of Warsaw and Krakow Airports, President of the Polish Military Land Agency and the President of Poland’s Air Navigation Services. While discussing the future of all aviation, a specific focus was lent to private aviation and what could be done in order to encourage its growth within Central Europe and Poland.
‘Standardizing regulation and keeping it at a minimum are key ingredients to the success of aviation throughout Europe’, remarked Oliver Stone, Managing Director of Colibri Aircraft Ltd. ‘Europe has an intensely regulated aviation system, making the barrier to enter the business of operating aircraft incredibly high. It is important that the people who have the ability to make decisions on rules and regulations understand this, and understand that encouraging new aviation companies is vital to the well-being of a country’s aviation system, and by extension their economy as a whole’.
Dagmar Grossman gave particular focus on infrastructure. ‘Governments have a number of choices of what to do on infrastructure spending, and aviation should be a top priority for them. I pointed out that the recent popular sentiment toward high speed rail would not serve an economy as beneficially as an airport, as it takes much longer and does not offer a variety of destinations. Building airports allows for more people and more goods to travel to and from a country, encouraging growth. Business Aviation is a beneficiary of this infrastructure, and we must be vigilant to encourage the growth of infrastructure that helps our industry’. Ms. Grossman’s points were not lost on the Minister for Infrastructure.
Importantly, at the end of the panel, the Minister gave special mention that Business Aviation is an important part of the aviation industry as a whole, and one that must be given special focus as countries invest in their aviation systems.
The Economic Forum is an annual meeting of dignitaries and business leaders from around Central Europe to discuss the opportunities and risks for their economies and citizens. It is based in southern Poland.
CEPA Expo team lands at EBACE
Geneve, May 3rd, 2010. As the Central Europe Private Aviation (CEPA) association plans for its 2011 expo in Prague, the team behind CEPA attended Geneva's 2010 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2010), an event that is in its' tenth year that featured over 400 exhibitors.
"We're excited to see as many other aviation expo's as we can to share experiences with other industry leaders and find the best way to move forward on our own event," said Dagmar Grossmann, Chairman and founder of CEPA. "Geneva has hosted one Europe's top expos for the last decade, and we believe CEPA will be able to achieve the same success moving forward."
CEPA's expo will connect every aviation expert in the Central and Eastern Europe region in a three-day event that will be the first of its kind in the CEE. Attendees will be able to plan their visits with ease, thanks to exhibitions that will be organized according to field, for example, manufacturers, maintenance providers and operators.
"Most importantly, we will have ample facilities prepared for the sole purpose of meetings and negotiations for exhibitors and visitors to make deals and work out contracts," Grossmann said.
The EXPO will feature aircraft and business jets on display on the exhibition grounds, with two days reserved exclusively for industry insiders and one public day on Saturday.
