Story ID: 450
Hong Kong Bizav Merger Creates 'Allavita'
By: Ian Sheppard
Caption: Hong Kong-based The ASA Group is to merge with L'Voyage, part of Diana Chou's DGA Group. 
Word Count: 484
Hong Kong-based The ASA Group and L’Voyage (exhibiting with Avinode, Booth D69) announced at EBACE 2018 today that they are to merge, with the combined entity being branded Allavita. The merger will “combine expertise in air charter and ground services [respectively],” and “capitalize on the region’s double-digit growth for private jet charter and on-the-ground services.”

Allavita means “towards a good life,” a name that, according to the new company, “reflects that private jet usage in the region is shifting with more younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) chartering for leisure than ever before.”

Allavita Holdings will encompass ASA’s ground handling supervision, security, protection and luxury concierge services, and L’Voyage’s expertise in travel curation and private jet charter activity. L’Voyage “will take over all charter and luxury services activity, with ASA focusing on handling, permits, and security.”

The combined business will have its headquarters in Hong Kong and offices in China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and The Philippines. L’Voyage was founded almost five years ago to tailor charter and lifestyle solutions for HNWIs, building up “a strong and loyal international client base.”

ASA chairman Simon Wagstaff becomes chairman of Allavita and of the L’Voyage subsidiary and Julie Ambrose is COO of Allavita, with L’Voyage founder Diana Chou continuing as chairman of Dragon General Aviation Group, which comprises L’Voyage, Aerochine Aviation, and Aero Infinity.

“Over the next six months we are looking forward to consolidating our sales and on-the-ground operations to offer our clients a wider range of services in Greater China and Southeast Asia,” said Wagstaff.

Chou said business aviation travel in Asia is still dominated by the luxury travel demands of its billionaires, which outnumbered their U.S. counterparts for the first time last year. Allavita highlights a joint report by UBS and PricewaterhouseCoopers that estimates, on average, a new billionaire is created in Asia every two days. The total number of Asian billionaires rose by almost a quarter to 637 in 2017, compared with 563 in the US, with China being the lead source of new billionaires.

“South Asia and Greater China are expected to lead global growth, with 5.7 percent and 4.6 percent compound average growth rates over the next 20 years, respectively, so Asia’s business aviation sector needs to catch up compared with other markets. Switzerland, for example, has at least three registered business jets per billionaire, compared with less than one jet per billionaire in China. Allavita is our response to this exciting development and enticing the new super-class travelers,” Chou added.

Chou is a founding member and member of the board of governors of the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) and was awarded "Businesswoman Leader of the Year" by AsBAA in 2015. In 2010 and 2012, Diana Chou was named “Women Entrepreneur of the Year” by the All China Women’s Federation.