Exclusive: Aviation group aims to spread its wings

Multiflight, which is based next door to Leeds Bradford airport, wants to run a corporate jet service and run more private flights to continental Europe and potentially the US.

The firm works in several areas including aircraft maintenance, flight training, sales and a charter flight service. It also provides a base for companies and wealthy individuals who want somewhere to house their aircraft.

It is considering buying a light twin engine jet and also allowing plane owners to hire out their aircraft for corporate use through Mulitiflight. It intends to apply for an air operator’s certificate (AOC) for aeroplanes, which would allow it to run corporate flights.

Managing director Steve Borrowdale said: “It is something that we don’t have but would like to add to our portfolio. It is perhaps the only thing missing. In the coming months we would like to work towards getting an AOC to expand our base.”

Multiflight had seen revenue increase strongly last year, despite rising fuel prices and the chaos caused by the Icelandic ash cloud last April. The firm saw a dip in 2009 when international travel was hit by the global downturn.

The company has not published its 2009-10 accounts yet but Mr Borrowdale told the Yorkshire Post that turnover for the 12 months to November was up 36 per cent on the 2009 figure of £8.04m and gross profit was up 26 per cent from £1.80m.

Mr Borrowdale, a longstanding aviation executive, said: “It has been tough. Last year we had a very strong year despite what was happening in 2009.

“We have been able to weather the storm relatively well but it has been a testing time for us all. Certain areas, particularly with engineering with the lack of flying, the lack of maintenance and the lack of charter, have certainly slowed the business down in those areas but fortunately some of the sales and acquisitions side have still been pushing ahead fairly strongly.

“We managed that despite the ash cloud and the snow and ice and whatever else. The ash looks like being something that we will have to contend with (in future) when you look at Greenland and the number of volcanoes there.”

The firm currently offers a corporate jet service with a 48-seater 737 but only as a broker, subcontracted through private aviation charter operator GainJet. It already has an AOC for helicopter use but a separate aeroplane licence would allow it to take passengers to holiday locations such as the south of France.

Multiflight is also working to counter perceptions that private air travel is only the preserve of the super-rich. Mr Borrowdale said using the firm’s services could prove economical, however, as well as saving time when compared to using traditional commercial airlines.

“The recession has taken its toll –m people don’t want to be seen to use it (private flying) which is a bit of a shame.” It is not just business travellers and the wealthy who have chartered Multiflight aircraft, however. It regularly takes groups of customers by helicopter to days out at Royal Ascot, Glastonbury, Wimbledon and rugby union at Twickenham, as well as being used by individuals who want to mark a family member’s wedding or birthday.

The firm has managed and maintained helicopters and provided crew for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) since early last year and recently won a five-year contract extension with the charity, which bought helicopters through Multiflight and has a high-tech base on the site. Multiflight wants to increase its share of the air ambulance market.

The firm, set up in 1994, also carries out wide-ranging repairs to aircraft and has provided maintenance for fixed wing aircraft made by companies such as Piper Meridian, Lear, Kingair, Hawker, Gulfstream, Falcon, Challenger and Cessna, as well as for Robinson, Bell, Sikorsky and Eurocopter helicopters. Multiflight is owned by Mr Hood, best-known as the founder and major shareholder in Pace, the Saltaire-based set-top box giant.

His love of flying was sparked by his work at Pace when he was taken on a pleasure flight in a Jet Ranger helicopter from Bolton Abbey. He soon learnt to fly, earning a helicopter pilot’s licence, and he went on to buy a Falcon 900B and then Knight Air, an aviation business on the south side of Leeds Bradford Airport.

Concern over regulation

THE security requirements of the airline industry have been transformed over the last decade. Steve Borrowdale said it remained vital to keep passengers safe but some of the current bureaucratic requirements caused concern.

“I think regulation has increased somewhat within our industry over the last few years and certainly companies do require specialist knowledge in the areas of operating and maintenance.

“The ever-moving European targets are something we need to keep a close eye on. I am sure it will be a test for the smaller companies just to keep pace with the regulation.”

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has repeatedly criticised the response of aviation authorities to the ash clouds seen above Europe both last month and last year.