Arrow stays bang on target for continued success

Arrow Aviation began as a spare parts dealer in Kolkata, India, back in 2001. The company soon grew and opened regional offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

By 2007 the company was looking beyond India and president Samir Gupta could see prospects in the Middle East.

“We could see potential and we opened up in Sharjah. We had proven our expertise and knew we could transfer those skills here,” he said.

The Sharjah business is based in the Sharjah Airport Freezone, and CEO Partha Sarathi takes up the story. “We have been able to grow our warehouse here and achieve approval from the GCAA – that is really important. We also got the distributorship for parts for Hawker Beechcraft and that has enabled us to start selling in the UAE and work with the different emirates.”

The growth in business aviation has made an impact for Arrow.

“Being a part of a world hub is important. I believe Dubai is now a bigger hub and a bigger destination than Singapore,” Gupta said. “That means its importance for business and corporate aviation has grown too.”

Arrow was made an authorised distributor for all Hawker Beechcraft parts across the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and north Africa.

“Africa has great potential as well. I can see us using our experience in Sharjah to step into Africa. Things are happening there like they were here just a few years ago,” said Gupta.

The world’s best selling turboprop is the Hawker Beechcraft King Air and with the type active in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Oman, Arrow is growing its reach across the region.

Hawker has recently added critical Premier 1 and Hawker 4000 parts to be held by Arrow for AOG events. And, as Arrow’s reputation grows in the region, it is looking at other representations from the business aviation sector.

It has become sole distributors of David Clark aviation headsets in India and will be looking to extend this. The company also represents Allied International, the biggest supplier of Tron Air ground support equipment and Jet Porter tugs. “We work with manufacturers and distributors around the world to support our customers by providing best solutions in normal as well as AOG situations,” Gupta said.

“We have professionals with vast experience in selling avionics instruments, airframes, rotables, and accessories, specialty chemicals and lubricants for all types of aircraft and helicopters.”

Sarathi said that Arrow’s business portfolio is balanced between government and business aviation. “This mixed portfolio means we are covered in a downturn,” he explained. “The government work is always consistent and nothing to do with the business environment so the portfolio balances out.”

Gupta said Arrow has no regrets at selecting Sharjah as a base rather than Dubai.

“We are just ten minutes from the Dubai Airport Free Zone and terminal two. Yet employment costs and overheads are lower in Sharjah. There is also more space available.

“We are looking at expanding and extending by looking at other manufacturers. Because of the freedom that is enjoyed in Sharjah, this becomes much easier to do and the airport, the free zone and the government are very supportive.

“We have a niche in the market and having the GCAA approvals makes it better for us to do business from here.”

The team of seven work around the clock. They monitor parts usage and particularly the common parts that are used across the sector. With several million dollars of stock they continue to rotate. “We hope to be achieving an annual $40million in sales from here in the next five years,” Gupta said.

And he can already see those signs of business aviation recovery. “I see the growth coming from Africa, while Saudi Arabia is also a big market. Our traditional Indian market is growing and we see people moving from smaller to bigger aircraft.”