ProAir’s Andreas Wald plans ahead for success in Germany.

Industrial strength makes Germany key for charter

There are certain countries whose sheer volume of economic activity demands a broker presence and Germany is one of them. The recession may have hit overall business levels but the professionals that organise charter services report bespoke products and services are helping some firms maintain and increase market share.

Germany is a vital hub for most international air charter brokers with hundreds of private and commercial charter companies keen on passenger and cargo referrals.

Brokers and freight forwarders report that it can be difficult to obtain traffic rights at short notice for aircraft that are not registered in Europe. This can lead to German generated cargo being flown from airports outside the country. But organising professionals point out that Germany is well-placed for doing business with the important major economic powers of China, Russia and India as well as the European Union marketplace and the up-and-coming continent of Africa.

This means that very few international brokers can afford to leave Germany out of their global development plans. Names that do business with business air charter operator DC Aviation, for instance, include Oxygen 4, Chapman Freeborn, Air Partner, Hunt & Palmer, Air Charter Service, International Air Charter and European Skytime.

DC Aviation GmbH, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, which was formed as a result of the merger of Cirrus Aviation and DaimlerChrysler Aviation, is adding to its long haul appeal by bringing two Legacy 650s into operation, one in the final quarter of 2010, and a second aircraft in 2011.

It is good news for brokers that do business with the company such as European Skytime whose commercial manager James Shotton confirms that Germany is one of Europe's most important hubs. "A great deal of our business is private passenger charter focusing on obtaining the most cost-effective and efficient service for UK clients to visit Germany or carry out business there," he says. "We have our own aircraft as well as being a brokerage and this gives us increased options and advantages."

European Skytime was launched in 1999 and is based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It owns a Learjet 40XR and a 45XR, both year 2008, which are operated on the UK AOC of Manhattan Jet Charter. Both aircraft are based at Farnborough airport and are cleared for otherwise restricted operations at London City and the popular Alpine destinations. "These aircraft are proving extremely popular with clients and charter hours are good in what has been the first 18 months of ownership," Shotton says.

Germany's economic muscle, he confirms, makes it one of the most important countries for business. "We regularly source aircraft in the UK and at other times in Germany depending on client requirements and aircraft availability. European Skytime also does cargo although its major focus is on the executive passenger side."

But aircraft available for long haul private passenger charter is only a part of a much larger picture. Germany is a good source of broker business for charters ranging from demanding specialist sports commissions to the intricate transport of some of the world's heaviest cargoes. It is a truism that, to stay in business and retain turnover, charter brokers have to plan years ahead and accept that it might be at least 12 months before cash investment and hard work pays off in terms of business volumes.

Corporate budgets are often decided in October for the following year so many of the clients' travel budget business decisions will have been taken before the start of 2010.

ProAir provides a prime example of a broker which has developed a diverse business base in Germany. ProAir's gm Andreas Wald (cover picture) says the company spent around five years building its reputation as a specialist cargo company before taking the decision to develop its passenger charter capability. That decision brought its reward with advance bookings well before the global economic downturn hit cargo freight demand. Executive and group flights for incentive trips and events charter held up better and ProAir benefited.

But Wald warns the downturn for group charter flights for events and incentives in 2009 will have an effect in 2010. "Executives have made their decisions now for next year. This will be reflected in the number of bookings that the charter broker industry will enjoy in the coming year."

ProAir, which will celebrate its 14th year in business in 2010, first established its reputation by efficiently carrying out assignments for the automotive industry, one of Germany's most important manufacturing and service sectors. But ProAir then took the bold decision to diversify, investing in its own fleet and broadening its expertise which has stood it in good stead during the global economic recession.

For passenger and cargo charter ProAir has its own fleet of three managed and one owned aircraft. The managed aircraft are a CJ1, CJ2+ and a Challenger 601 which complement the company owned aircraft, the Learjet 31A. Wald says the hard work of building ProAir Aviation as an independent company is paying off with enquiries coming in from the marketplace. "Prospective clients know we are serious about building the fleet and providing a service."

Elmar Monreal, md, says the Learjet 31A is perfectly suited to meet demand for short and medium distances. Pluses include its baggage space, its 1,100 nm range and cruising speed of 475 knots. ProAir has gained certification for France's Chambery and London City. "Our skiing clients are particularly pleased because Chambery, near Albertville, is situated conveniently among mountains," says bdm Markus Ciravegna. "And our business clients are happy with the added convenience of London City for meetings in London's financial district."

"ProAir has welcomed on board the elite of German football including the players and officials of Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, VfL Wolfsburg, Hertha BSC Berlin, 1. FC Nuernberg, and the Austrian Championship runners-up Red Bull Salzburg," says Ciravegna.

Apart from regularly servicing the demand from several football clubs, ProAir has also built business with biathlon, ice hockey and volleyball teams. Charter clients have also included Formula One world champion Mika Haekkinen.

Wald points out that private charter is a market where customer expectations of service are extremely high and the recession has ramped up these expectations. Top footballers do not want to be bothered with formalities and details. "Once they have finished the match they want to get to the aircraft and take off," Wald says. "We negotiate with handling companies and airport security so they do not need to queue with other passengers and can walk through and go without being delayed. You must know your customer and their requirements which can change. The more you find out the better you can serve them. Some clients like to arrive very close to their final destination even if that means a smaller or less luxurious aircraft. Others might like to have the space for on board business conferences and work and make up for any time lost traveling from the airport to the final destination that way. Usually the client will want to arrive as close as possible to the end destination. Germany has a good number of small airports, many with runways that can accommodate jets as well as turboprops."

ProAir staff, he says, know that small touches are important - such as knowing that vip Chinese clients like noodle soup to be on the menu.

Celebrities add excitement and colour to the routine. ProAir staff have kept cutlery bent on board by Uri Geller who was flown by Learjet from Cologne to Salzburg. Ciravegna says: "The spoon has a special place in the ProAir 'collection of trophies'."

Other celebrities ferried by ProAir's private jet crews include Kylie Minogue. "The pilot and co-pilot were very happy when they learned their passenger was Kylie Minogue," says Ciravegna. She was collected by a 12-seat Challenger 604 from the UK's Farnborough airport.

Group charter demand in 2008 ranged from the Biathlon World Championship in Ostersund, Sweden, to a car manufacturer convention in Alicante and from a meeting of 350 employees in Nice from Warsaw and Cracow to groups using Innsbruck in Austria as a business venue.

ProAir has also expanded internationally and now has offices in Moscow, Zurich, and in the UK as well as Germany. But the company still has strong roots in the automotive sector. This year it celebrated what it calls "the biggest and longest event in its company history." Wald says: "The experience will stand us in good stead for future complicated assignments."

Volkswagen's 'Polo Congress Wolfsburg 2009' involved 24 flights in eight days and 3,500 booked passengers. Kerstin Mindermann, who handled the project management in Hanover, says: "A total of 8,500 dealers, importers, service and sales managers, as well as sales assistants from 90 countries, become better acquainted with the new VW Polo in Wolfsburg. A total of 300 vehicles were available for the daily test drives to Schoeningen im Elm." A distance of 60,000 kilometres was covered with the new VW during the three weeks of the event.

For the dealer congress Volkswagen established a brand world comprising a pavilion of 2,220 square metres and 810 tons in an exhibition area of 15,000 square metres, doubling as the meeting place for the dealers during the evening event. ProAir, in co-operation with the event agency Grass Roots Germany GmbH, supported VW with domestic shuttle flights to and from Stuttgart, Ingolstadt and Frankfurt-Hahn. The passengers used Boeing 737, Airbus A319 and MD 87 type aircraft.

ProAir's Kathrin Schuessler, Kim Witschas, Joerg Sickinger, Andreas Wald and Stefan Giebel were responsible for ensuring a smooth check-in at the airports while another team at ProAir's Stuttgart airport headquarters headed by Markus Ciravegna made sure the flights ran smoothly.

Mindermann says: "The equipping of the aircraft with the company corporate design, the signposting with logos at the check-in and superb catering at the gate areas in both Stuttgart and Ingolstadt were just a few of the key aspects covered. With this big and responsible project ProAir has proved that it can handle even the biggest event exactly in accordance with the client's specifications. Everything ran like clockwork both in and out of the office."

ProAir believes that 2010 will be tough. However it has put in a lot of hard work in 2008 and 2009. "This will stand us in good stead in the coming year," says Wald. "However, charter operators and brokers will have to work very hard this year if they are to help ensure that business levels rise satisfactorily in 2011 and 2012."

Peter Springinklee, Air Partner's country manager for Germany and Austria, confirms that Air Partner is developing its business in Germany on both the cargo and vip passenger side.

"Although air cargo is, in overall terms, a decreasing market we have experienced a good booking situation through our cargo team in Cologne. This is the team which is responsible for covering Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe. We are also processing ongoing enquiries and bookings for vip passengers. It was pleasing to be awarded a large vip programme for transport to the US. We have fixed flights for a very large and complex programme to meet the requirements of a commission from the automotive industry. "

Springinklee says Hahn airport is an important hub with low handling costs and a very good infrastructure. But he points out: "Other - mainly secondary - airports like Leipzig have developed a good freight product. On the passenger side, many clients still ask for hub-airports like Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf or Berlin, to allow good central connection for international guests."

He reports that Air Partner Germany has this year managed to exceed targets. "With many active divisions within aviation we managed to overcome the difficulties other companies may have experienced," he says.

Air Partner Germany, he adds, has enjoyed more than 12 consecutive years of growth in Germany. "During this time we have developed, together with our clients, products that were demanded by the marketplace as well as products that were offered within the group and have been amended to fit the local needs."

Brokers and freight forwarders predict that Germany's importance as an international air broker hub can only increase over the coming years with the country set to do rising business levels with other economic powerhouses such as India, China and Russia. However, the key to increasing market air charter broker share in Germany could lie in planning ahead and in developing bespoke products and services that keep pace with constantly evolving demand.