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Air Charter Service - Specialists in providing all types of aircraft for your private air charter requirements

Specialists in providing all types of aircraft for your air cargo charter requirements ...

Current news

» January, 2012 - Air Charter Service raises significant amount for charity

» December, 2011 - Air Charter Service’s Aviator Ball raises money for charity

» November, 2011 - Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 2011

» October, 2011 - Half year results 2011

» September, 2011 - Ulster Rugby signs exclusive agreement with Air Charter Service

» August, 2011 - Air Charter Service beats war and weather to charter aircraft into Mogadishu

» July, 2011 - ACS arranges first relief charters into stricken Eastern Africa

» June, 2011 - ACS sees boom in music charters

» May, 2011 - ACS Paris expands its cargo department

» April, 2011 - Air Charter Service helps to rescue stranded vessel

» March, 2011 - ACS in Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies To Work For

» March, 2011 - Japanese evacuations become latest in ACS’s relief operations this year…

» January, 2011 - Venezuelan President ‘tweets’ thanks to Spain for ACS aid flight

» January, 2011 - ACS optimistic about the cargo charter market in 2011


Air Charter Service raises significant amount for charity January, 2012 In 2011 leading aircraft charter firm Air Charter Service raised more than $77,000 for their chosen charities; HEAL, Cancer Research UK, The Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, The Willow foundation and The International Youth Arts Foundation. ACS supports a selection of chosen causes, with a dedicated committee helping to organise an array of fund-raising events. All the money raised by their staff is matched by the company, doubling the total amount. One of the charities that benefitted from the money raised, HEAL, provide shelter, support, education and healthcare to some of the world’s poorest children, with the aim of helping 10,000 young people ‘escape the poverty trap’ by 2015. One of the highlights of the company’s fundraising year took place in September: an 18-strong ACS dragonboat team – named ‘No Plane No Gain!’ – took part in this year’s Great River Race down the Thames, completing the gruelling 21-mile course in a respectable time of just under three hours, raising $9,000 for HEAL along the way. Among a host of other charity functions, a raffle was held at ACS’s European staff’s Christmas party at The Aviator Hotel, Farnborough, garnering more than $21,000 for their chosen causes. ACS funded the building of an IT block within HEAL’s new self-sustaining village for orphans in Thotapally, India. Chris and Tina Leach, respectively ACS Chairman and Company Secretary, recently visited the site and described what they saw as “absolutely inspiring”. Looking forward to 2012, Tina, who heads up the ACS charity committee, is confident that ACS can provide yet more support to HEAL and the company’s other charities: “We are immensely proud that we can contribute to such wonderful causes. 2011 was a brilliant year for ACS, but I believe we can do even more this year.” You can watch a video of Chris and Tina’s visit to the Paradise Village by visiting the company’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/ACSPLC.

Air Charter Service’s Aviator Ball raises money for charity December, 2011 Air Charter Service’s staff Christmas party, ‘The Aviator Ball’, has raised £14,014 for charity, thanks to the generosity of the company’s employees, who bought raffle tickets and bid on items kindly donated by the event’s sponsors. The Aviator Ball, a 1940s aviation themed party, was held at The Aviator Hotel near Farnborough Airport. ACS staff from the Russian, German, French and UK offices celebrated the festive season along with guest of honour Erik Lindberg, grandson of pioneer Charles Lindberg, who flew over from the US especially for the event. Staff members and their partners came dressed in vintage 40s attire, including 40s air force uniforms and ball gowns, as well as enjoying a champagne reception, three-course dinner and festive fun that lasted well into the early hours. The night’s entertainment included music from the ACS band, as well as speeches and presentations about the company’s charitable causes, including a talk and video about ACS owners Chris and Tina Leach’s recent visit to the HEAL children’s village in India. HEAL, Cancer Research UK and The Shooting Star Hospice are the three charities that will benefit from the money raised. So far this year ACS has donated thousands to its chosen charities, partly thanks to the company’s policy of matching however much their staff raise.

Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 2011 November, 2011 Leading aircraft charter provider, Air Charter Service, has been placed 158th in The Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 list published yesterday [16th October]. The list, produced every year since 2004, ranks Britain's top 250 Mid-market private companies by their turnover over the previous year, from published accounts. It is the first appearance in the league table for the company after previously being earmarked ‘One To Watch’ two years ago. Chairman Chris Leach commented: “This placing is recognition of our hard work and continued growth over the past few years, and we are delighted with our position.” Last year sales grew by 37% to £227.8 million, and further growth is expected again this year. 2011’s list contains household names such as Manchester United, Aston Martin and Selfridges. The 250 companies named have a total revenue of £71.2 billion, and make up approximately 5% of the UK’s GDP.

Half year results 2011 October, 2011 Air Charter Service has reported strong growth in the first half of 2011, with revenue increasing by 20%. And the company has arranged almost 3,000 charter contracts in the first six months of the year – an increase of around 20% on the previous year. ACS Chairman Chris Leach commented: “All three of our divisions; Cargo, Commercial Jets and Executive Jets, showed very strong growth last year, and our international operations all performed well. This year our passenger business has grown more rapidly than the cargo side and now accounts for more than 50% of total revenue for the first time in our history. Our Commercial Jets department results for the first half of the year are up almost 150%. “The group continues to work with a variety of governments, corporate companies and high net worth individuals worldwide. We organised a huge number of evacuation flights for expatriates from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Japan in the first few months of this year, but the underlying growth is still strong, despite the recession.” The company currently has fourteen offices spanning five continents, providing an impressive global network. Leach added: “Our ever expanding number of offices is allowing us to offer innovative solutions to clients worldwide. We have local knowledge on a global scale and customers recognise the benefits of using us, rather than a company without such an extensive network. A lot of the growth over the past few years has been down the opening of new operations, including the two that opened their doors this year – firstly São Paulo and, more recently, Los Angeles.” Leach concluded: “This continued growth is testament to the hard work of our staff and the successful implementation of a number of management strategies - we are a cash rich company and reinvest heavily in our training and the treatment of our staff – which explains our exceptionally low staff turnover and place in The Sunday times 100 Best Companies To Work For list.”

Ulster Rugby signs exclusive agreement with Air Charter Service September, 2011 ACS has secured a partnership with one of Ireland’s premier rugby union teams, Ulster Rugby, in a season long sponsorship deal. Air Charter Service will provide aircraft arrangements for the team as they travel around the UK to play their League fixtures and around Europe to meet their Heineken Cup commitments for the 2011-2012 season. Air Charter Service has extensive experience in charters for rugby teams and has already worked alongside Ulster Rugby for some time. Matthew Purton, Commercial Jet Director for ACS, said: “I am delighted that we have signed this deal and that we can continue our work with Ulster. We worked closely with the team last season, and they had a very successful campaign: finishing 3rd in the league and reaching the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time since 1999.” Purton continued: “We charter aircraft for many of the world’s biggest sports teams, so we have a great amount of expertise in the sector. It is the best way for the players to travel long distances and to prepare mentally for the game ahead – ensuring that the transit time is as short as possible and that they arrive in comfort.” Ulster Rugby’s Director of Rugby, David Humphreys added: “Matthew and his team at ACS offer a reliable and flexible service and we are delighted to work with them this year. The ability to fly directly to particular airports at time that suits us makes financial and, more importantly, rugby sense for us. We can make savings on hotel costs and many of the charges associated with commercial airlines, while the ability to fly home straight after a match allows the players to maximise the recovery period in between games which has become essential during an increasingly busy season.”

Air Charter Service beats war and weather to charter aircraft into Mogadishu August, 2011 Air Charter Service has successfully chartered for clients transporting much needed aid into the infamously war-torn Somali capital Mogadishu, despite heavy rain hindering relief efforts across the Horn of Africa. Since 1991 the civil war in Somalia has greatly hindered logistical operations into the country, but ACS has once again created charter solutions that allow clients to get aid to the region. Regardless of the recent weather, Somalia and the surrounding area is still suffering from one of the worst drought induced famines Africa has ever seen. The weather has only further compounded the desperate plight of the Somali people; the downpours destroying temporary shelters and threatening to jeopardize humanitarian efforts. These latest meteorological events make ACS’s aid charters even more vital as supplies become increasingly scarce. As of last week ACS has chartered aid into the country from Europe and Africa on a combination of DC9-30Fs and AN12s. The most recent flights have been carrying crucial food supplies; previous charters have carried tents and medical aid into surrounding areas including Nairobi. More charters have been scheduled for the rest of the week. Justin Lancaster, ACS Cargo Sales Director Worldwide commented, ‘With so many factors working against the people suffering from this devastating famine, we acknowledge how critical it is to be getting aid to the places it is needed most. Our services are essential to the relief effort; no scheduled service can get aid in as quickly as we can, nor can our reaction time be bettered - we can have a plane in the air within the hour.’ He went on to add, ‘We are proud to have the chance to work with so many relief agencies across the world who strive to make a difference to those who are suffering. Any organisation looking to get aid into the Horn of Africa need look no further than ACS.’

ACS arranges first relief charters into stricken Eastern Africa July, 2011 Air Charter Service has seen a huge increase in demand for charters to carry desperately needed humanitarian aid for the starving people of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, as The Horn of Africa suffers a crippling drought and famine. Justin Lancaster, Cargo Sales Director for ACS Group, commented: “Working closely with our Dubai office, we have successfully started arranging flights into the affected areas, so far using mainly MD-11s and Boeing B747s. The cargo is varied and includes medical supplies and tents for the refugees. We have more charters throughout this week and many more requests that we are working on.” Lancaster continued: “North eastern Kenya has experienced the added hardship of growing numbers of refugees – every day between 1,000 and 1,500 Somalis cross the Kenyan border to the largest refugee settlement in the world, Dadaab, where there are already close to 400,000 people. The medical supplies are desperately needed, and the tents that we are bringing in will go some way to helping to house these extra people. “ACS has a long and proud history of humanitarian operations stretching back decades, and this latest crisis is terrible – we are doing all that we can to help our clients get their aid to the region as quickly as possible.”

ACS sees boom in music charters June, 2011 Air Charter Service has reported a particularly high demand for charters this year to move bands’ and artists’ equipment from show to show – whether it be for festivals or their concert tours. The Summer festival season is now in full swing and artists find themselves very popular as they are often wanted to play at more than one festival in one weekend, or they need to juggle their Summer touring schedule with festival commitments. Ben Dinsdale, Assistant Director of ACS’s London Cargo Department, commented: “Many American bands and artists combine festivals within their European tours which, whilst logical, often mean very tight schedules that simply cannot be kept unless charters are involved. We help move the valuable stage sets, with the band’s road crew often involved in the load planning of the aircraft to ensure a safe and swift transit as many artists have a performance in a different country less than 24 hours after they finish their previous set.” Dinsdale continues: “The size of the aircraft we use is obviously heavily dependent on how big the artist is and how much stage equipment they need to take with them for particular shows. We’ve used everything from Metroliners up to B747s and AN-124s before now. “And across our departments we can offer the complete solution for tour companies planning their artists’ movements with the executive jets team having been busy with flying many of the artists themselves and the commercial team having flown many of the entourage and crew.” ACS arranges more than 5,000 full charter contracts every year consisting of tens of thousands of flights.

ACS Paris expands its cargo department May, 2011 Air Charter Service’s Paris office welcomed Maxime Fabre to its cargo department last week. Maxime has been dealing with French speaking cargo clientele from the company’s London office for a number of years, and has built up a loyal customer base. With the Paris office now thriving he has relocated back to his native France to head up the cargo division as manager. Tony Bauckham, ACS Managing Director, felt that it was the right time for Maxime to move: “We feel that the natural progression to expand our business reach in the country is to have Max based here full time to extend the French cargo department.” Air Charter Service has an annual turnover of close to €UR250 million and arranges more than 5,000 charters per year on all types of aircraft ranging from cargo aircraft to private jets to commercial airliners.

Air Charter Service helps to rescue stranded vessel April, 2011 Following a storm in Morocco last month a large vessel ran aground on the country’s shores. After initial attempts failed to shift the ship, Air Charter Service was called upon. Two tugs were dispatched from Gibraltar immediately after the incident occurred by a specialist salvage company and they headed straight to the port of Jorf Lasfar (just south of Casablanca) where the vessel was stuck. Unfortunately, they could only get within a few hundred metres of it, and the 64 mm towing wire that was onboard was too lightweight to pull the vessel from that distance. At this point the company telephoned ACS for their help. The salvage company had sourced a coil of 400 metres of specialist rope that was located in Athens. The quickest way to get it to the tugs at Jorf Lasfar was to charter an aircraft from Athens to Malaga and then drive it the rest of the way – a journey of around eight hours by truck. The towing wire is able to withstand in excess of three hundred tons and, with the aid of twenty special buoys (also transported on the charter), they were able to rescue the stricken vessel successfully.

ACS in Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies To Work For March, 2011 Leading aircraft specialist Air Charter Service has once again been included in The Sunday Times Best Companies To Work For 2011. It is the second time that the company has featured in the list in the past three years – this year obtaining a 2 star accreditation and finishing number 58, the highest of any aviation company. The company’s particularly special attributes were for personal growth, the staff being excited as to where the company is going and for giving something back to the community – ACS matches all staff’s sponsorship money for charity events such as The Great River Race, the 3 Peaks Challenge and the upcoming Comic Relief day. Tony Bauckham, Managing Director at ACS, said: “This is a great achievement, and to know that our staff enjoy working for us is particularly pleasing. That is reflected in their dedication and hard work which has supported the company’s growth over the past 12 months – more than 30%. Also, it is apparent that our commitment to charities is held dear by everyone.” Air Charter Service is a global leader in the supply of aircraft charters, ranging from private jets, to airliners to cargo aircraft. Last year turnover was over £225 million and more than 5,000 charters were arranged, consisting of tens of thousands of flights, across the company’s worldwide offices.

Japanese evacuations become latest in ACS’s relief operations this year… March, 2011 Air Charter Service’s Hong Kong office has completed its first few staff relocation flights out of Japan after fears over the extent of radiation leak heighten, and has arranged more. Gavin Copus, CEO of ACS Asia Pacific, said: “On Tuesday we chartered a 400 seat Boeing 777-300 to relocate a corporate client’s staff from Tokyo to Hong Kong. Their office in Tokyo was having problems with intermittent power and the company was worried about their staff’s general well-being following the radiation leaks. We also chartered a Boeing 747 that landed yesterday. It’s not going to be the last of these sort of flights either – we have a few more booked, all flying over the coming days from the Tokyo area. Both Haneda and Narita Airports to the north of the city are open, but most people are migrating to the south and heading towards Osaka and Nagoya. We will also be repatriating various different nationalities in the coming days.” Copus then added: “2011 is fast becoming a very busy year for evacuations. I know that some people across our worldwide offices have been working seven days a week! Since the uprisings in Egypt and then Libya, it has been non-stop for more than six weeks.” Egypt Air Charter Service evacuated almost 2,000 foreign nationals after the uprising began on January 25th 2011. ACS arranged 26 charters in total from both Cairo and Alexandria. Libya The situation in Libya was on an even greater scale – ACS evacuated more than 6,000 people from Tripoli and Sebha in the country across 34 flights. Amongst these was the last British governmental flight out of Tripoli carrying the FCO workers and final remaining Britons. ACS was not, however, involved in the heavily criticised first few British evacuation flights. The company had people on the ground in the region including in Malta where an airbridge was set up by ACS from Tripoli (only one hour away by air) to enable a speedier evacuation process. Tunisia ACS then conducted a further 13 flights from neighbouring Tunisia, after many people fled across the border from Libya. ACS flew more than 2,000 foreign nationals from the Tunisian airport of Djerba. The company’s cargo departments chartered aircraft into Tunis that brought in over two hundred tons of aid including tents, blankets and food. New Zealand Following the earthquake near Christchurch, ACS arranged an American governmental aid flight carrying search and rescue teams, as well as 65 tons of relief cargo. Totals (excluding Japan): Time scale: 6 weeks Flights: 75 Passengers: 10,000+ Cargo: 300 tons

Venezuelan President ‘tweets’ thanks to Spain for ACS aid flight January, 2011 Air Charter Service last month flew almost 16 tons of humanitarian cargo into the Venezuelan capital of Caracas after the heavy rains and landslides in the country. The Spanish Government donated the aid – which included food, blankets and mattresses – to assist the affected Venezuelans. The flight originated from Central America, the cargo having come from the Panama-based Spain Humanitarian Logistic Center. Richard Thompson, Cargo Manager at ACS, said: “Our office in America helped to source the right aircraft for us, and there was a Boeing 727 located in Panama itself. We overcame weather and technical problems to get the aircraft into Caracas and get the essential freight to the people that needed it as quickly as was possible. After the flight landed the aid was quickly distributed to some of the 130,000 victims of the massive floods. The Venezuelans were so grateful that President Hugo Chávez even went on social networking site Twitter to thank the Spanish Government, saying “Gracias por tu esfuerzo”, or ‘Thank you for your effort’!” Air Charter Service is heavily involved in relief efforts whenever a disaster occurs anywhere in the world and with their global network of offices, ACS staff are available 24 hours a day, and there is always a charter expert near the affected areas allowing them to react faster than most others.

ACS optimistic about the cargo charter market in 2011 January, 2011 Air Charter Service is optimistic that 2011 will be a strong year in the cargo charter market after having its record ever year in 2010 fuelled by the automotive and oil & gas sectors. Justin Lancaster, Cargo Sales Director at ACS’s London office, said: “2010 was a really strong year for ACS, and I think the air cargo business in general picked up a lot after the downturn. We were particularly strong for a number of reasons though. One of them being that the automotive sector grew very quickly part way through the year and, because of this, the supply chains could not cope. This meant that charters were required every day to support the manufacturers’ supply chains. This, in turn, led us to reintroduce our managed fleet of aircraft – starting with the AN-26. Based in Birmingham, it proved an instant hit and has been flying almost non-stop since early October. The sector is still extremely busy and shows no signs of letting up for the foreseeable future. Hopefully we will be adding more aircraft to the managed fleet in the coming year. Another industry fuelling the cargo charter business at the moment is the oil and gas sector, with the high oil prices stimulating the industry into exploration and development. There is, however, a downside to these price rises. Lancaster explains: “Oil prices are continuously on the rise, which is good in the sense that it is bringing in oil related charters for us but, on the flipside, this also means that the general aviation fuel prices are going up, which obviously leads to a hike in all transportation costs across the board and could affect the business that we get from other sectors”. ACS itself has experienced huge expansion in the last year or so, adding a number of offices in the past 18 months alone – the latest being São Paulo – with plans for more in 2011. Lancaster continued: “Having our extensive global network of offices has helped us a great deal too, giving us the ability to share the local expertise with other offices and by finding backloads and improving our service and prices to our customers worldwide. Here in the London office we have the largest single trading floor of cargo charter experts in the world.” Air Charter Service grew by around 40% last year and now arranges over 5,000 charters, turning over more than $300million. Its worldwide network of offices spans five continents, combining local knowledge with global buying power.