London City Jet Centre, the Avfuel-preferred contract fuel provider owned by London City Airport, announced that in response to increasing traffic to the airport, it has reduced its fee schedule for Tariff Band B business aircraft. The airport is located just four miles from the UK capital’s Canary Wharf business district.
The savings range from 32 percent on a Cessna Citation Sovereign to 61 percent for the Citation CJ series, Citation 500, 550 and Mustang, Hawker 400XP, King Air 200/300/350 and Piaggio Avantis. For those aircraft, the inclusive landing and handling tariff is reduced from £2,055 ($2,980) to £800 ($1,160) for landing fees, handling fees, passengers load supplement, security levy, apron charges and 40 minutes’ parking.
“The London market is enjoying a revival, and this is the time to review pricing for landing in London,” said Nick Rise, London City’s director of business aviation. “Customers are more conscious of price and value for money. This has led to an increase in traffic for light and mid-sized aircraft, and as a result, London City Airport is able to review its pricing and pass these savings on to the customer.”
According to London City, the airport is effectively passing on around $1.45 million in savings to business aviation operators. A UK Border Force charge of £155 ($225) per movement will be added for all aircraft arriving from outside the UK with passengers. The airport offers a “90-second promise” to whisk passengers from aircraft-to-car on arrival and from car-to-aircraft on departure.
European Expansion
Global Fuel provider Avfuel is at EBACE (Booth G089) to highlight its expanding European FBO network. Of the 13 Avfuel-branded FBOs in Europe, four were added over the past year, including Waterford Regional Airport in Ireland, The Private Jet Company in the Isle of Man, Marshall Aviation Services in Birmingham UK, and Woodgate Aviation at Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland. The U.S.-based company provides contract fuel at more than 3,000 locations worldwide and is VAT registered in the majority of European Union countries with approval in the remainder pending.
“There’s great value to exhibiting at EBACE,” said C.R. Sincock, the company’s managing director of international business development. “The European market is one of the world’s larger aviation markets, and it’s an area where we believe we can provide a superior service to the industry.”
Despite persistent reports of slumping business aviation activity in the area, the company remains optimistic of a turnaround. “We’re confident that business will stabilize over time and begin to grow, particularly as low fuel prices remain persistent,” noted Sincock.
Here at the show, the company is displaying several of the 600-plus members of its branded FBO network, including Air Service Basel at Euroairport Basel-Mulhouse on the border of Switzerland, France and Germany, SouthAir Iceland at Keflavik International Airport, Banyan Air Service at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Duncan Aviation, which operates three FBOs in America’s heartland, Fargo Jet Center at Hector International Airport in North Dakota and Premier Jet Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Also in attendance at the Avfuel booth are affiliated company AvFlight, which operates an FBO at Belfast City Airport as well as at 14 U.S. locations and partner Sheltair, which has 17 locations throughout Florida, New York and Georgia.
While Avfuel offers FAA-approved Part 139 training along with an online rampside training course to its branded locations, the fuel provider also offers several tips to help avoid costly mistakes, whichever FBO a customer uses. For example: Before allowing fueling of their aircraft, crews should understand what certifications the location has received and what type of training its employees participate in. Also, they should always ask to see any inspection forms and the most recent fuel quality-control test records, and be present during fueling operations to make sure fuel trucks are properly marked with the appropriate fuel (jet A or 100 LL avgas), and parked the appropriate distance from the aircraft.