Switzerland-based aircraft owner and management, charter, and completions specialist Comlux Aviation (Booth 3273) is confident that the Airbus ACJ TwoTwenty ordered by Dubai’s Five Hotels and Resorts will be delivered as planned in January.
While the company remains on schedule to meet that goal, it is monitoring the program at its completions center in Indianapolis, where the work is taking place, and from its Zurich headquarters at least two or three times a week, said executive chairman and CEO Richard Gaona.
“When you do a completion, you are installing the entire system,” Gaona told AIN. “We have faced issues with suppliers. The entire industry supply chain has been and is still recovering from Covid. Some companies have disappeared, others have fewer people. Production lead times have changed. We have an agreement with Airbus to complete the first 16 ACJ TwoTwenty cabins in Indianapolis.”
Zurich is where most major decisions are taken and where aircraft transactions are managed. “We are operating aircraft from Malta, Aruba, and Kazakhstan, but flying a good deal in the Middle East, especially in the UAE,” he said. “Then comes the completion business in Indianapolis.”
Today, 23 aircraft are in the Comlux fleet, including three Boeing BBJ widebodies, five ACJ320-family aircraft, one ACJ TwoTwenty in completion, two BBJ737-500s, three Bombardier Global 6000s, one Global 6500, two Challengers (an 850 and a 604), two Embraer Legacy 650s, a Praetor 600, and a Pilatus PC-24.
Recent additions have included another Global 6000 and a new Praetor 600. “Both will join the fleet in October, for European charter operations, registered in Malta,” Gaona said. “In January, we will add the first ACJ Two-
Twenty, and later in the year, a second, and then a third. We are already offering ACJ TwoTwenty operations to our clients with some success.
“We help our clients to buy, operate, and maintain their aircraft. It’s a good opportunity for us to propose new aircraft and solutions to other clients.”
Keeping on Pace
The effort is underway to ensure that ACJ TwoTwenty parts arrive on time. “Some suppliers were supposed to deliver parts in September; now, they will arrive in December,” Gaona said. “We had to find a solution to keep the program on schedule.
“Suppliers themselves face difficulties because their supply chains are in trouble. To avoid these issues, we have a dedicated organization inside Comlux for procurement, planning, production, and engineering. This is the challenge facing the ACJ TwoTwenty today.”
Comlux placed its first order for two ACJ Two-
Twentys in 2020, then added two more in early 2022. “Our first three positions are sold; the next is under sales process, due for delivery in the first quarter of 2025, a little more than two years from now,” Gaona said. “While Comlux has four slots and has already sold three, Airbus has also sold several of these aircraft to their clients.”
Gaona explained the process of executing a completion. Once the cabin is installed, the aircraft is removed from storage for a first test flight, where all the cabin systems are disconnected, to ensure the aircraft is working properly. Systems are then tested on the ground and more test flights take place.
“The aviation authorities check that the airplane can be certified and are in permanent contact with our design organization approval unit,” Gaona said. “Then the client inspects the aircraft and the cabin, to make sure that everything is working.”
Comlux employs more than 500 people from some 40 countries in seven companies at offices and facilities in Switzerland, Hong Kong, the U.S., Kazakhstan, Aruba, Malta, and the UAE. It offers a choice of airline or charter air operating certificates, and, having won IS-BAO Stage 3 accreditation, has adopted industry best practices. All aircraft management functions are integrated in-house.
A company backgrounder said Comlux has accumulated 100,000 flight hours on more than 50 managed aircraft and has expertise on 22 aircraft types manufactured by eight OEMs. All Comlux pilots are captain-qualified, and no first officers are on its roster. Flight crew management and lead captains each have more than 11,000 flight hours in total, on average.
Indianapolis Hub Buzzing
Based at Indianapolis International Airport, Comlux’s massive completions center offers 157,000 sq ft of hangar space and can handle both narrowbody and widebody aircraft. “All technical disciplines and fabrication back shops are integrated under one roof,” the company said.
The center has delivered 14 completions, including the ACJ320neo and the BBJ Max. It conducted the first-ever completions in the industry on the ACJ320neo, ACJ321, and BBJ Max 8, it said.
In December, Comlux’s first ACJ Two-
Twenty conducted a successful pre-completion flight in Mirabel, Canada, and in January it arrived at Comlux Indianapolis for completion.
It was sold to Hotel Five in Dubai last year, in a deal that was communicated to the market. “We have sold the other two to a non-disclosed customer; the delivery of the number-two green aircraft [to Indianapolis] will take place in October this year,” Gaona said. “The next one will take place in the second quarter of next year. We’re progressively moving from three to four aircraft a year.”
Gaona expects that if the ACJ TwoTwenty program continues to be successful, there will be a requirement to accommodate up to six aircraft a year at a certain point in time if Airbus wishes to produce more. “It’s an interesting program and it will keep us very busy from 2022 on,” he said.
In addition to its three aircraft, there are others that third parties have sold directly for 2024. “I cannot tell you how many,” Gaona said. “They may communicate what they have sold, but that’s their decision. Comlux has sold the first tranche. Then there is a batch of aircraft for Airbus. Then we have another one ourselves in 2025.”
Gaona makes clear that Comlux is not an Airbus reseller or a broker. “We are a team reselling Comlux’s own slots, bought speculatively, as we have always done. Comlux has bought a total of 26 aircraft from Airbus. Right now, there are probably only two that we still own.”
Comlux is selling a total package—airplane plus cabin—before the aircraft is ready for delivery, but still in its green state. The company takes title to the aircraft and does not transfer this until after production. “We keep ownership a little longer,” he said.
“It’s comparable to how the leasing companies operate: when a company comes to Airbus or Boeing, it orders a batch of airplanes, often without knowing to whom they will be leased. That’s almost what we do: we buy and resell planes, but we don’t lease them. That’s our business. Our mission is not to hold green aircraft in our fleet, but to resell them prior to entry into service.”
At the same time, the company is also an Airbus client. “We act as a client and are treated like a client,” he said. “When the aircraft is ready for delivery, our obligation is to pay Airbus.”
Comlux sees itself as a risk-sharing partner to Airbus on the ACJ TwoTwenty cabin. “We have financed cabin development costs and worked with Airbus to develop the best cabin in this market segment at a competitive price,” he said. “We are more than a partner. We do this because we believe in the future of the ACJ TwoTwenty program. This market has huge potential—200 to 300 aircraft.”
Switzerland-based aircraft owner and management, charter, and completions specialist Comlux Aviation is confident that the Airbus ACJ TwoTwenty ordered by Dubai’s Five Hotels and Resorts will be delivered as planned in January.
While the company remains on schedule to meet that goal, it is monitoring the program at its completions center in Indianapolis, where the work is taking place, and from its Zurich headquarters at least two or three times a week, said executive chairman and CEO Richard Gaona.
“When you do a completion, you are installing the entire system,” Gaona told AIN. “We have faced issues with suppliers. The entire industry supply chain has been and is still recovering from Covid. Some companies have disappeared, others have fewer people. Production lead times have changed. We have an agreement with Airbus to complete the first 16 ACJ TwoTwenty cabins in Indianapolis.”
Zurich is where most major decisions are taken and where aircraft transactions are managed. “We are operating aircraft from Malta, Aruba, and Kazakhstan, but flying a good deal in the Middle East, especially in the UAE,” he said. “Then comes the completion business in Indianapolis.”
Today, 23 aircraft are in the Comlux fleet. “In January, we will add the first ACJ Two-Twenty, and later in the year, a second, and then a third. We are already offering ACJ TwoTwenty operations to our clients with some success.”
The effort is underway to ensure that ACJ TwoTwenty parts arrive on time. “Some suppliers were supposed to deliver parts in September; now, they will arrive in December,” Gaona said. “We had to find a solution to keep the program on schedule. Suppliers themselves face difficulties because their supply chains are in trouble. To avoid these issues, we have a dedicated organization inside Comlux for procurement, planning, production, and engineering. This is the challenge facing the ACJ TwoTwenty today.”
Comlux placed its first order for two ACJ Two-Twentys in 2020, then added two more in early 2022. “Our first three positions are sold; the next is under sales process, due for delivery in the first quarter of 2025, a little more than two years from now,” Gaona said. “While Comlux has four slots and has already sold three, Airbus has also sold several of these aircraft to their clients.”
Based at Indianapolis International Airport, Comlux’s massive completions center offers 157,000 sq ft of hangar space and can handle both narrowbody and widebody aircraft. “All technical disciplines and fabrication back shops are integrated under one roof,” the company said.
In December, Comlux’s first ACJ Two-Twenty conducted a successful pre-completion flight in Mirabel, Canada, and in January it arrived at Comlux Indianapolis for completion.
It was sold to Hotel Five in Dubai last year. “We have sold the other two to a non-disclosed customer,” Gaona said, adding one was to been delivered in October. “The next one will take place in the second quarter of next year. We’re progressively moving from three to four aircraft a year.”
Gaona expects that if the ACJ TwoTwenty program continues to be successful, there will be a requirement to accommodate up to six aircraft a year at a certain point in time if Airbus wishes to produce more. “It’s an interesting program and it will keep us very busy from 2022 on,” he said. In addition to its three aircraft, there are others that third parties have sold directly for 2024.
Comlux sees itself as a risk-sharing partner to Airbus on the ACJ TwoTwenty cabin. “We have financed cabin development costs and worked with Airbus to develop the best cabin in this market segment at a competitive price,” he said. “We are more than a partner. We do this because we believe in the future of the ACJ TwoTwenty program. This market has huge potential—200 to 300 aircraft.”