For Air Charter Service, the end of April closed its first quarter. Management is delighted with its performance, with record results for a first quarter, in all divisions, charters up by 19 per cent, and revenue by 37 per cent.
Aircraft charter specialist Air Charter Service has reported an excellent first financial quarter of the year, with charter numbers up and revenue growth of more than 35 er cent year-on-year; up to $380 million.
Chris Leach, ACS's founder and chairman, comments: “Our financial year begins on 1 February, so the end of April closed our first quarter. We are delighted with our performance, with record results for a first quarter, in all divisions, with overall charters up by 19 per cent, and revenue by 37 per cent.
“Removing some of our larger on-going contracts, which are low value / high volume and have remained at the same level as last year, our underlying growth is a healthy 13 per cent in private jet charter flights, with revenues up 27 per cent. Part of this revenue growth was as a result of securing some higher value contracts, both on larger aircraft and with longer sectors. We also arranged evacuations from the Middle East on private jets. The higher aviation fuel prices across the globe have also affected revenue.
“Our group charter division has performed very well, with both charters and revenue up by 40 per cent. This was buoyed by evacuation flights out of the Middle East, for various governments and large multinational companies. Underlying growth, however, is still very strong.”
The strongest growth in terms of charter numbers, out of ACS' three main divisions, came from its cargo department, which saw 70 per cent more charters than the same period last year and revenue up by 41 per cent. In part, these increases were due to supply chain disruptions caused by the conflict in Iran, as well as the repercussions of Storm Marta and the port closures that it caused in Morocco.
Leach continues: “Of our smaller divisions, ACS Leasing has had incredible success, with some large contracts meaning that revenue has already eclipsed last year's total after only three months of the year. And our Time Critical Services offering has seen a 52 per cent increase in contract numbers and a remarkable 101 per cent growth in revenue, as it continues to make huge strides in onboard courier (OBC) and next flight out (NFO) sales under the new leadership team.
“The outlook for the rest of the year is uncertain, as the fallout from the Iran conflict and other geo-political situations means that we are probably in the most uncertain period since Covid, making it impossible to foresee what effects these situations will have on the charter market going forward. Our global footprint, diverse businesses and portfolio of clients do, however, mean that we are well-placed to deal with whatever happens in the coming months.”
