Gama Aviation

Air services

Since 1983, the company's managed fleet size has grown to over 250 aircraft via organic growth and M&A activity. The most significant of these deals being; the reserve takeover of Hangar 8 Plc, the acquisition of Aviation Beauport and most recently the merger of its US Air division with that of BBA Aviation Plc. This single deal added another 90 aircraft to the US fleet operated by Gama Aviation LLC.

In addition to the transformational M&A activity, further specialist services where added with the addition of FlyerTech and the organic development of flight training services and its own in-house pilot ground school.

A core capability of Gama Aviation is its ability to deploy turnkey special mission solutions. This is most visibly evidenced in its near 30-year relationship with NHS Scotland and its provision of the Scottish Air-ambulance Services (SAS). The SAS contract involves the provision of fixed and rotary aircraft as well as the co-ordination and operational management of all flights 24/7. This long term contract resulted in the company investing in the development of new infrastructure at Glasgow International Airport, with the creation of the SCOTSTAR facility.

The company also works other special mission agencies such as NATS (National Air Traffic Services) (radar tests) and with aerial survey providers.

Gama Aviation LLC, its US associate business, provides similar turnkey support for Wheels Up. The business currently provides all operational support, pilots and pilot training for the fleet of King Air 350i and Cessna Citation XLS aircraft across the US. Maintenance support is provided by Gama Aviation's US maintenance business alongside Textron's warranty work.

Ground services

Gama Aviation conducts maintenance support for most business aircraft types across its global network of bases specialising in AOG (aircraft on the ground), line and base maintenance provision for FAA, EASA, GCAA (UAE), Isle of Man, Guernsey, Cayman and Bermudan registered aircraft. Aside of the jet business, Gama Aviation supports the general aviation community via its base at Fairoaks Airport, UK. The same base also provides specialist maintenance services for helicopter operators.

In the UK, the company holds authorised service centre status with Cirrus, Rockwell Commander and Beechcraft. Globally, Gama Aviation holds maintenance certifications for the following OEMs: Gulfstream, Bombardier, Dassault, Embraer, Boeing, Airbus and Textron.

A core competency of the company is its ability to provide fleet support. In the US this extends to the 55+ aircraft of Wheels Up utilising Textron Aviation's Citation XLS+ and the Beech King Air. In January 2017, the company's Europe Ground division announced a 15 aircraft fleet deal with Wijet to provide maintenance support across Europe for AOG, line and base maintenance

As with the Air division, the company operates a number of special mission contracts with the likes of NHS Scotland, the Ministry of Defence and primary contractors such as Atkins. Central to this is a unique combination of military and civilian engineering skills allowing the company to draw upon a wide knowledge base for the effective implementation of upgrade and re-role projects. This has included updates to the RAF's primary trainer fleet and the Army Air Corps Gazelle fleet, amongst others. The company's most recent special mission support service contract awards were disclosed in January 2017

Geographic development of the ground division

Over the past two / three years Gama Aviation has built a strong network of bases in the US (Bedford HF, Bridgeport, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Palm Beach, St. Louis, Teterboro, Van Nuys, White Plains) and UK (Farnborough, Aberdeen, Fairoaks, Glasgow, Jersey, Kennington, Doncaster, Waddington, Oxford). Additional maintenance facilities have also been added in Nice (France), Sharjah (UAE) and most recently Hong Kong