News Release

Air Partner attracts top talent as private jet team expands

February 13, 2014:

Leading air charter broker, Air Partner, is pleased to announce that it has attracted four new hires to help further build the group's sales teams. The new hires significantly add to the talent and experience within the Air Partner Group, as demand for charter and jet programs continues to grow. The new hires will join Air Partner's UK, US, Italian and German offices.

Vincent Kavanagh joins the private jet management team as UK sales director, while Andrea Giora, Marcus Hilchenbach and Gary Gennari will add to the sales forces in Italy, Germany and the US respectively. Increasing US revenues and growing the group's private jet offering in continental Europe were highlighted as key areas of group strategic focus, and the new appointments will continue to support growth in these areas.

Vincent Kavanagh will be based in Air Partner's London office and will be responsible for sales and business development. Over the past ten years, Vincent has spent time at VistaJet and NetJets Europe, successfully managing teams and growing client numbers considerably. Prior to arriving in the private aviation industry, Vincent worked for 11 years within the Motorsport industry in sales management roles with a very international client base.

Strengthening the team in continental Europe, Andrea Giora will join Air Partner's Italian office as a sales executive in the private jet team, and Marcus Hilchenbach will join as a product manager in Germany. After starting his career as a private banker and credit analyst, Andrea then moved into the sales arena, working for the yacht manufacturer Ferretti Spa, before joining NetJets Europe as senior vice president for Italy, Malta and Italian speaking Switzerland in 2009. Marcus joins Air Partner from Chapman Freeborn, where he was head of passenger charter for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He brings a great deal of valuable experience in the international air charter market, along with a reputation for professional broking and an extensive network of relationships.

Gary Gennari will join the US private jet sales team, and will be based in New York. Gary joins Air Partner most recently from Executive Jet Management, a subsidiary of NetJets Inc, where he was their senior New York sales representative for 12 years. Prior to this, Gary has also worked at Atlantic Aviation and Base Ops International.

Air Partner has been stepping up its private jet activity with notable success and has benefitted from private jet users increasingly turning to more flexible charter solutions and jet programs. The group's JetCard program is currently at record levels, the group sold its first $1million JetCard last year, and private jet revenues in the last financial year grew by 22%. The arrival of Kavanagh, Giora, Gennari and Hilchenbach at Air Partner further points to change in the private aviation sector.

Paul Richardson, Air Partner's director for private jets, who joined the group in August 2013, having previously worked in the wealth management and sports and entertainment sectors at Coutts and Barclays Wealth, said, “We are delighted to be further strengthening Air Partner's private jet team with some of the best talent from within the industry. The group's private jet division is in an exciting period of growth at the moment, and we are very keen to focus our efforts on taking this to the next level. One of the things that distinguishes these new members of our private jet team is their absolute commitment to clients, their knowledge, and their passion for the industry – I am sure they will be a great asset to Air Partner.”

Vincent Kavanagh, Air Partner's new UK sales director, said, “I am pleased to be joining Air Partner's very high calibre private jet team at such an exciting time. The private jet division is going from strength to strength at the moment, and I hope to be able to work with Paul Richardson and the team to build on that. The group's very strong customer focus and bespoke solutions are an exciting prospect, and I feel well-placed to help drive further growth.”