ACI sees growth in Africa and more specialist charters from the Gulf

“Business is up by 20% compared with this time last year in this particular segment of the market and we’ve seen charter requests from the African continent raise by 25%” said Caroline Jongma, Charter Sales at ACI.

ACI has also been busy in its home market in the Gulf. Last month it tackled a logistically complicated charter to support a luxury car company which is currently rolling out a worldwide launch of a new vehicle. The launch, which will announced officially in 2013, saw over 100 VVIP customers flown from GCC countries including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to Dubai. In a unique operation ACI chartered three Cessna 208A amphibian seaplanes from its subsidiary company, Seawings, to fly guests into Dubai for the presentation.

The logistics were complicated by the fact that all 100 passengers had to be flown in and out in one day. Using its expert knowledge and local network Air Charter International was able to gain approval from the Gulf Civil Aviation Authority to enter Military Airspace and land on a private airstrip in Dubai.

With a tight schedule ACI had to be specific on timings to ensure aircraft landed and departed on schedule. “We are seeing a growing trend in luxury brands utilising our services for special events such as car launches and desert challenges,” Jongma said.  ‘Organisers recognise the benefits of private jets, helicopters and seaplanes in creating an unforgettable experience. ACI has the expertise and contacts needed to handle the complicated challenges presented by such events and are consequently seeing a growing demand for this type of service,” she said.

ACI was also responsible for last month’s urgent delivery of two hydraulic cylinders from Amsterdam to Dubai. This is the second time that ACI has been involved in this specific type of charter with the first being dispatched last year. To manage the charter ACI project manager Ian McEwan, who has over 25 years’ experience in the field, was dispatched to the Netherlands where the cargo was originating. He advised on how to construct cradles for the cylinders to prevent them falling through the aircraft floor and was on site to ensure safe loading.  An Emirates Sky cargo nose loader 747-400 freighter carried the shipment on a seven hour journey from Holland to the UAE.

ACI has been working with outsized charter for over 20 years as it regularly ships machinery and equipment for the oil trade to Nigeria, Angola and Sudan. This year however it has seen an increase in business charter from the African continent. “We believe the higher demand is resulting from businesses realizing that executive charters, as well as cargo charters, are valuable tools that can underpin their day to day work. Passengers can land conveniently close to their destination, some of which are quite remote, at the time that they want, with the people they need to be with, which is valuable from a security perspective for the region. They are also familiar with our service and know that we have an excellent set of contacts in the region. We often win deals as we manage to source aircraft that others cannot and through bespoke knowledge can provide alternatives to meet the clients’ needs,” Jongma said. Already a growing market, ACI anticipates that the African continent will become an increasingly important source of business, particularly for reliable, well maintained and secure charter aircraft.