Helicentre Announces Re-location of Head Office

Posted Sun, June 06, 2010

To all Helicentre customers

As you are aware Coventry airport was placed in compulsory liquidation in early December 2009 and closed immediately as a result. This was mainly due to the fact that the airport was not viable as a going concern, an issue that had continuously presented problems to us as an operator and tenant for many years. As a contingency Helicentre immediately commenced operations at Leicester Aerodrome and very quickly established a positive relationship with the aerodrome operators, staff and existing customers. It quickly became apparent that Leicester provided many benefits as an operating base in terms of operations, facilities, atmosphere and the potential for expansion.

Coventry airport’s issues were long and protracted and during this time I became more involved with the problems and the depth of the underlying issues with the viability of the airport. In April a deal was agreed with a new owner and discussions began towards agreeing terms and conditions going forward. It was immediately apparent that the new owners strategy was to significantly increase the operating charges while at the same time providing a lesser service than before. More importantly there was nothing to convince me that the airports future was any more stable than it had been under the previous owners and there would certainly not be any potential for us to expand. In summary Coventry no longer represents a stable or cost effective base to conduct training from. At a time of rising fuel prices, the increased charges at Coventry would have been detrimental to the service provided to our customers in terms of both operations and cost.

In part, due to the above but more importantly because of the significant benefits, I am extremely pleased to confirm that Helicentre Aviation has relocated its head office to Leicester. Phase one of the relocation will be completed in the next week with the completion of our new building providing our central operations, business lounge, boardroom and various briefing rooms and training facilities. Phase two will commence in August, which will see the erection of hangar and workshop facilities and provide Helicentre with a platform to provide Helicopter maintenance for its own fleet as well as third party aircraft. The benefits to our customers are numerous and this move completes the circle of capabilities and services that Helicentre Aviation can provide. It also provides central management and control for our new bases at Bournemouth and Blackpool.

Leicester as an operating base provides many advantages over Coventry not least the social and club facilities with a popular café and fully licensed bar. We are working in conjunction with the Aero Club to promote these facilities and expand our own social side as well as corporate events and team building. The operational benefits are numerous and you will find the procedures far more relaxing and enjoyable. Furthermore the operational fees are more sensible which will result in cost savings for you as the customer. The opposite would have been the case at Coventry.

I thank you for your patience during the last six months and look forward to seeing you at the launch/open day on Saturday 19th June 2010.

Captain Chris Line

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