Story ID: 
Inflite finds business booming at Stansted
By: Charles Alcock
Caption: Just over four years after London Stansted Airport FBO Inflite opened its new Jet Centre facility back in March 1999, the company reports growing volumes o
Word Count: 350
Just over four years after London Stansted Airport FBO Inflite opened its new Jet Centre facility back in March 1999, the company reports growing volumes of traffic.According to Tracey Stalker, Inflite’s operations commercial coordinator, the company’s handling business has increased by around 10 percent over the past 12 months. The increase has been evident both in the number of based aircraft at the FBO and in the amount of ad hoc traffic. Inflite is the preferred handler at Stansted for flight-planning group Jeppesen.The Jet Centre boasts two separate passenger lounges and several conference suites (which can also be used to accommodate VIPs), as well as a dedicated crew-rest area that is conveniently located below the operations and flight-planning center. Inflite’s original premises–now called the Regional Aircraft Centre–offer an additional two passenger lounges, which have recently been refurbished and tend to be used for handling larger executive and charter aircraft. Customs and immigration clearance can be handled in the Jet Centre, which is run by duty operations managers Frank Whitelaw and Mark Gibbens. The FBO also boasts an on-site kitchen, which can serve high- caliber in-flight cuisine to order.Stansted-based operators and visitors benefit from Inflite’s 30,000 sq ft of ramp space immediately adjacent to the Jet Centre. The company has two hangars, and while one of these is largely given over to maintenance work, the other has space to store aircraft for ad hoc visitors.In AIN’s last survey of European FBOs in May 2001, corporate crews ranked Inflite as the third best facility throughout the continent and the best at Stansted Airport, where it competes with both Universal Aviation and Harrods Aviation (formerly Metro Business Aviation).The Inflite group offers substantial corporate aircraft engineering capability, with heavy maintenance, modification and overhaul experience at Stansted focused primarily on Bombardier Challengers, Raytheon Hawkers and Cessna Citations. The company is an established airliner maintenance contractor, specializing in types such as the BAE Systems 146/RJ regional jets. Last year, Inflite-owned World Aviation Support at London Southend Airport added capability with British Aerospace Advanced Turboprops (ATPs) to its maintenance portfolio.