Air Charter Service

ACS launches 'empty leg' service

2009-03-23T16:08:00.003Z

Air Charter Service is proud to announce the launch of its new empty leg service. This new service matches 'empty legs' against the clients' most frequently used routes.

Whether you would like to take a loved one on a surprise weekend away, or fly to your second home, just let us know and when a matching empty leg becomes available we will contact you.

Click here to tell us your favourite routes

An ‘empty leg’ occurs when an aircraft repositions and would be flying empty to its destination. If the route is suited to your schedule you could save up to 75% on the charter price.

Empty legs are commonly used for:

• Fitting in with business travel arrangements
• Spontaneous weekend away – return via scheduled service
• Fly to your second home - return via scheduled service

You also have the option to sign up for our weekly empty leg email which includes all routes added over the last 7 days. This is a great 'no hassle' way of staying up to date with the latest empty legs.

Simply click here to sign up.

If you are a flexible flyer, ACS’ new empty leg service could offer you excellent savings without compromising on the details that matter such as style and luxury.

ACS shines out at EIBTM

2009-01-29T16:38:00.004Z

Air Charter recently exhibited at EIBTM in Barcelona, giving them an excellent opportunity to showcase their ever expanding expertise in the commercial charter market.

A team of five ACS account managers attended the meetings and incentives exhibition including a representative from the Bilbao office which opened in August 2008. The exhibition proved to be very successful allowing ACS to showcase the services that we can offer clients.

Air Charter Service will be exhibiting again in December 2009 at EIBTM.

View the full story here

You can contact an account manger at passenger@aircharterservice.es

Gavin Copus touches down in Hong Kong to become CEO- Asia Pacific

2009-01-29T16:24:00.001Z

Gavin Copus formerly passenger sales director of ACS London is taking his vast experience of the aviation industry across the world to take up the position of general manager Asia Pacific for ACS’ Hong Kong Office.

Starting at Interflight aviation over 15 years ago, Gavin has learned the aviation industry intimately. Learning his trade initially dealing with private jet flights out of Biggin hill airport, Gavin then went on to work for Monarch Airlines, Air partner plc and now ACS. Known for his attention to detail and passion for pulling out all the stops for clients, Gavin personally trained and monitored ACS account managers to reach the highest standards of customer service. Gavin’s knowledge of the aviation market is truly global and is respected by airlines and customers alike.

We wish him all the best and by taking his knowledge and experience over to Hong Kong we know that our clients will benefit from his dedication.

Click here to view the story

Contact the Hong Kong Passenger Sales Team passenger@aircharter.com.hk

Naught to Düsseldorf in 1hr 40 minutes

2009-01-29T16:21:00.000Z

When a CEO of a large international metal company, missed his connecting flight from Terminal 5 London Heathrow to Düsseldorf his first thought was to call Air Charter Service. Passenger charter analyst Hugo Smith took the call at 10am local time (London), with the request to get the two passengers to Düsseldorf in as little time as possible.

In no time at all a Premier 1 was ready in Farnborough and the passengers were in a taxi organised by Air Charter Service to take them to the aircraft. One hour and forty minutes after receiving the phone call Air Charter Service London had the two passengers on an aircraft to Düsseldorf. Hugo rang ahead to the company collecting the passengers from the airport to take them to their meeting, with all the onward travel details to ensure a quick transition.

Click here to read more

Contact the passenger sales department

London@aircharter.co.uk

+44 (0) 20 8614 6299

ACS recieves 'People Development Award'

2008-11-18T10:46:00.000Z

ACS is delighted to announce that it has been accredited with the ‘People Development Award’ by IFW, an award voted for by industry professionals, the publications Editor and which is hotly contested by our industry peers.

This award comes just two months after The Sunday Times officially recognised ACS as ‘one to watch’ in their ‘Best 100 Companies to work for’ list.

ACS train every one of their brokers in London irrespective of whether their final destination is going to be in the UK, Dubai, Moscow, New York or Hong Kong. The universal training ensures that all ACS brokers are trained to the same high standards.

Tony Bauckham, Managing Director of ACS said: “Employee development is at the forefront of ACS’ ongoing plans for the future; each employee is moulded, nurtured and valued and as their career progresses and is given a wide choice on what external training courses they would like to undertake, with ACS’ financial support. We are thrilled with this award as it clearly demonstrates our commitment to our staff and our future.”

Christopher Leach, Chairman of ACS said: “Given that our continued growth relies on our staff retention with our brokers contributing increasingly the longer they are with us, we have institutionalised best practice training and development practices to the point of excellence.”

Will Waters, awards judge and Executive Editor of IFW said: “ACS showed clear evidence of its commitment to thorough training and continued improvement of its staff. It clearly outlined the important difference that exists between just training staff and encouraging lifelong learning.

“The judges were impressed by the best practice awards that it offered its staff and by how it empowered staff to seek out additional training. It also offered an innovative mentoring system involving all of the company from the boardroom to the shop floor.”

For more info click here

Air Charter Service opens Asia office in Hong Kong

2008-11-18T10:39:00.000Z

Last May we opened our fifth office in Hong Kong. ACS has positioned itself to benefit from the growing Asia-Pacific and Australasian market which has seen exceptional growth in private jet usage with official figures showing that since 2003 Hong Kong International Airport has seen steady year on year growth of between 35 and 40% in executive jet movements through it’s Business Aviation Centre, a trend which is set to continue throughout Asia.

Heading up the Asia-Pacific team is Mike Walsh with 12 years aviation experience, who has relocated from the firm’s London office and is to be supported by charter brokers, trained by ACS in London to handle both passenger and cargo enquiries. Yan Fang, Thomas Chan and Stephen Fernandez join the Hong Kong team bringing the languages needed to provide the highest levels of service, namely Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Korean. Soon to join the team is office manager Money Cheng who is also tri-lingual and has worked in aviation for five years with Chinese carriers.

Mike Walsh, Director, ACS Hong Kong said: "Serving the Asia-Pacific region from Hong Kong see’s the realisation of a long term dream for ACS and the opening of the office here has been driven by our analysis of customer demand. This is a huge opportunity for ACS and we have now secured a permanent office in the Central district of Hong Kong. Business in Hong Kong, China and the region in general is undertaken face-to-face so it was vital that we established a key team here in China.”

For more new click here

Charter for sports celebrity golf break

2006-10-26T16:15:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service’s London office arranged a private aircraft charter for a party of ex-professional football players, TV football pundits and press reporters to fly down to Sardinia for a two day golfing break last month.

The aircraft charter was requested by a big sports sponsor client who was treating the VIP group, which included Sky and BBC presenters, to an all expenses paid trip to play one of Europe’s best courses.

Andy Christie, who specialises in sports event flights, laid on a Saab 2000 commuter turboprop aircraft for the charter from London to Sardinia. The Saab 2000 aircraft allowed the celebrity party to fly as a single group, and the use of VIP airport terminals kept the group away from the chaos of busy airports.

Football star choppers in for promotional event

2006-10-20T12:18:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service’s sports charter specialist Andy Christie was this month delighted to be asked to arrange a helicopter charter for a prominent member of the England football team the day after the Euro 2008 qualifier against Macedonia.

The star was needed for a promotional event in central London so his agents requested a helicopter to pick him up from his clubs training ground on the outskirts of the city and fly him directly to the Battersea, South London.

Andy arranged for an AS-355 Twin Squirrel to fly the player high above the traffic gridlock down below. In a helicopter with a capable cruise speed of 224 km/h the flight was completed within minutes and the star was transferred to the event by limousine.

Private charter demand continues following terror scare

2006-08-31T12:20:00.000+01:00

London based Air Charter Service have seen a sharp rise in demand for private charters since August's terror alert as VIP and executive travellers try to avoid crowded airports and scheduled flight security scares. The dramatic rise in business has come during what is usually the slowest time of year for private jet charters. Business at Air Charter Service remains around double what the normal level is for the time of year.

The new security measures and flight delays in August caused serious difficulties for the business community, with routes to key European cities and transatlantic destinations heavily affected at the height of the problems. In addition to business traffic, executives who normally hired private jets only for business trips were using them for family vacations as well. Despite the worst of the problems passing the boom in business appears to be continuing.

Chartering a private jet proves so popular with executives because it allows them to conduct their business overseas with greater flexibility, with no need to worry about a missed flight or an overnight stay if a meeting runs on later than expected. It allows the executives to turn up to the closest airport moments before take-off rather than wasting time with lengthy check-in arrangements and delayed flights.

Since the terror scare the most in demand European destinations are financial hubs such as Zurich and luxury holiday destinations including Nice and Olbia. A return flight from London to Nice on a 7-seat Citation Bravo costs approximately £9,000.

The company are also seeing substantially increased business to transatlantic destinations including New York, Chicago and LA. A return charter from London to New York on a Gulfstream IV aircraft costs approximately £50,000 with a two night stopover.

Gavin Copus, passenger sales manager at Air Charter Service, revealed that his team had been working around the clock with business more or less double the normal levels for August due to the scare.

He added: “Executives and their families feel reassured by the reliability and security that companies such as ours can offer, which is why we have seen such demand in recent weeks.”

Press contact:

Andy James

T: 020 8614 6299
andy.james@aircharter.co.uk
www.aircharter.co.uk

Exciting new partnership for winter season

2006-08-30T14:56:00.000+01:00

With winter only just round the corner we thought now the perfect time to announce our new partnership with Elemental Adventure - specialists in providing customised heliskiing packages to some of the most exciting destinations around the world - including Canada, Alaska, Russia, Turkey and Greenland.

The role of Elemental Adventure is to provide you with the experience tailor made to your requirements, taking care of the planning of your trip down to the last detail.

In order to minimise time spent travelling and maximise your time on the snow, Air Charter Service can arrange for your private aircraft to take you directly to your destination with speed and comfort. With so many destinations only a short flight from your local airport an exclusive weekend heliskiing becomes both easy and practical.

Whether you are an experienced skier looking to pioneer first descents in the Himalayas, or a confident intermediate who has never been heliskiing before; Elemental Adventures and Air Charter Service make it happen with minimum the planning and hassle on your behalf.

Visit http://www.eaheli.com/ for more information on heliskiing.

Dressed up and ready to fly!

2006-08-14T13:08:00.000+01:00

One of the more unusual requests Air Charter Service received during the weekend of turmoil at London Heathrow came from a stag party left stranded after being stripped of their scheduled service flight to Barcelona.

Determined that the stag was not to get off the hook that easily, the party called Air Charter Service to request a private air charter to get them to Spain.

Air Charter Service’s Sam Wood promptly arranged an ATR 42 aircraft to quickly fly the group from Farnborough Airport (FAB) to Barcelona (BCN) where the celebrations could go ahead as planned.

The group were thrilled that their trip had been saved, and kicked off their weekend of fun by changing the stag into a ladies dress before boarding the private aircraft!

Scheduled service chaos expected to continue into weekend

2006-08-11T14:53:00.000+01:00

Due to the heightened security alert at UK airports Air Charter Service have been experiencing extremely high demand from passenger’s held up across the country. Thousands of scheduled service travellers are being told to prepare for a weekend of flight cancellations and delays as tight security measures will remain in place across the UK.

Alongside the problems caused for thousands of holiday makers, the new security measures and delays have made travel for the business community, with routes to key European cities and transatlatic destinations affected. Added to this with the new check in arrangements executives are unable to take their laptops and documents onto the aircraft, making the possibility of catching up with work or preparing for meetings impossible.

Air Charter Service have been working around the clock since Thursday morning arranging private turboprop and executive jets for business people who have been unable to change important schedules. With numerous light prop and private jets at local at airports like Biggin Hill (South East of London) and Farnborough (West of London), ready and able to depart within 2 hours of confirmation, chartering an aircraft to avoid the chaos has proved very popular.

Check-in and the fully enhanced security check for private jet charter flights takes just 20 minutes prior to departure, and executives can take hand baggage onboard while they travel.

You can contact Air Charter Service on +44 (0)20 8614 6299. This number is available 24 hours for urgent requests.

Private jet charter saves the family holiday

2006-08-02T10:20:00.000+01:00

With summer holidays in full swing Air Charter Service flew a top city banker and his family to Palma de Mallorca on a Citation Excel for a yacht holiday. However, in a problem all too common for business executives, the office called during the break and urgently required the banker for an important meeting.

The PA for the banker called Air Charter Service again to see if they could get him to the meeting in Frankfurt quickly and without fuss so as to cause minimal disruption to the holiday.

Gavin Copus and Joel Fenn immediately provided a Citation II aircraft to whisk the banker to Paris, where at the VIP terminal the banker was able to change into a business suit his PA had made available for the meeting.

Following a successful meeting and business dinner in Frankfurt the banker was able to return to the waiting private jet and fly straight back to Mallorca to join his family on the yacht.

Fill out a charter enquiry form online.

ACS make strides with NBTA community

2006-07-27T13:30:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service’s passenger department in New York report that this years NBTA exhibition held in Chicago was a very successful event for the company.

The Air Charter Service booth at this NBTA event allowed brokers to further strengthen existing client relationships as well as generate new business opportunities with companies who have requirements for private aircraft charters.

Approximately 1,300 travel buyers, 4,200 industry suppliers, and more than 80 journalists enjoyed more than 50 educational seminars, networked in the 100,000+ square-foot exhibition hall and took in a keynote speech by former President George H.W. Bush.

For more information on business air charters please contact Air Charter Service’s New York office.

World Cup latest

2006-06-29T10:05:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service's Senior Charter Analyst, Ros Shergold jumped into to arranged a last minute trip on an Embraer 120 aircraft for some avid Australian football fans who work for a large asset management company in London, to watch Australia v Italy on Monday 26th July.

Despite a tight time schedule Ros even managed to arrange 5 star hospitality onboard the 20 passenger aircraft and secured a VIP coach to transfer the passengers from Saarbrucken Airport to the Kaiserslautern Stadium.

Australia were unfortunate to crash out 1-0 after a late penalty decision, but even so the company thanked Ros for the fantastic service and informed her the day was still amazing.

Visit www.aircharter.co.uk for more information on chartering a private jet or turboprop aircraft to sporting events.

Air Charter Service score with D328

2006-06-27T10:53:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service’s Dornier 328 has proved a resounding success with fans travelling to the World Cup in Germany, notching up 9 charters before the quarter final stage.

The aircraft, based in the UK , offers quality leather seating for up to 31 passengers and has proved especially popular with corporate groups travelling to the biggest games. Like the other stars of the tournament, the aircraft has also been busy working between the games, flying business charters across Europe.

Other key players involved in Air Charter Service’s World Cup campaign have so far included Citation Jet, Challenger 604, Hawker 800 and Fokker 50 aircraft.

Visit www.aircharter.co.uk for more information on chartering the D328 or a private jet.

Executives fly on multi-leg charter

2006-05-30T16:40:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service's New York office recently had the privilege of sourcing a Learjet 60 for one of the biggest manufacturers of large machinery in the US. The machinery company who were working on a tight schedule, phoned Air Charter Service at the last minute to request a charter to transport their top executives between seven major cities in just a three day period.

The team in the New York office offered a Learjet 60 aircraft charter which met their requirements perfectly, allowing them to fly as a single party before taking a tour of their company factories. Air Charter Service provided flexible flight schedules allowing the trip to run smoothly and swiftly without the executives having to worry about missing flights.

The company thanked the New York office for the fantastic service and informed them the flights were a great success.

Visit www.aircharterserviceusa.com for more information on chartering an aircraft

Music stars charter for the Big Weekend

2006-05-26T13:43:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service recently had the opportunity of sourcing a private jet for the music band Razorlight and company officials who needed to fly to Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Camper Down Park, Dundee. The production team phoned Air Charter Service in the build up to the event to request the charter for the stars who were working to a tight schedule.

Carmen Vanegas from the London office offered a 24 seat VIP Canadair Regional Jet, striking the perfect chord with the stars who were looking for a luxurious and relaxing flight before the gig.

Timing was crucial and everything was scheduled to match the bands slot at the show. The flight time from Luton to Dundee was just 1 hour on this VIP jet so the group arrived perfectly fresh for their performance.

Razorlight put on a great show before returning to the waiting aircraft for the flight back to Luton.

In addition to the Razorlight charter, Air Charter Service’s VIP team also recently arranged another charter for an infamous rock star to a concert in Berlin.

The star contacted Air Charter Service requiring an immediate flight as he was late for a gig. Carmen Vanegas supplied a Premier 1 jet for the star who made it to the venue and delighted fans who had waited patiently for a number of hours.

Visit http://www.aircharterserviceplc.com/vip_charter.htm for more infornation on VIP charter flights

New partnership with luxury holiday providers

2006-05-26T09:36:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service are delighted to announce a new partnership with Luxury Retreats and CaribbeanWay. Luxury Retreats are an elite travel provider specializing in luxury villa rentals and yacht charters throughout the world. Their villa and yacht destinations include Italy, France, Greece, Morocco, South Africa and many more. The company individually select each of their 1300 villa properties in order to offer their guests the finest vacation experiences in the world.

CaribbeanWay is the sister company to Luxury Retreats and a world leader in Caribbean luxury vacation rentals, offering the villa experience to discerning travelers. Their portfolio includes more than 900 villas in over 30 destinations throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Hawaii.

For more information visit either http://www.luxuryretreats.com/ or http://www.caribbeanway.com/

Air Charter Service move to new offices in Moscow

2006-05-26T09:26:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service’s Moscow office has relocated to larger new offices in the city to further facilitate the growth that the company has experienced in recent years. The new office will allow for the addition of further brokers to the team.

The new office is situated in a prestigious complex on the carriageway dubbed ‘Putin Road’ due to the fact many of Russia’s business elite and ministers use the road to travel to work each day from the west of the city.

The office is also conveniently located on the blue metro line, between Krylaskoe and Molodezhnaya stations.

For the full address and contact details visit www.aircharter.ru

Air Charter Service at London Creme Expo

2006-05-11T17:30:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service will be appearing at The Times Crème Executive Secretary and PA show, 16-18 May at the London Olympia. Representatives from our office will be present and we would be delighted to meet you at booth 348 for a glass of champagne and an informal chat on the services that we offer.

The Times Crème Executive Secretary and PA Show is the only event dedicated to the PA profession. The London show is attended by over 6,000 Executive Secretaries and Senior PA’s who together with over 200 exhibitors makes for the biggest and best event of its kind.

Anyone looking for more information can email london@aircharter.co.uk, or visit www.aircharter.co.uk

Announcing the launch of Air Charter Service’s Loyalty Scheme!

2006-05-11T17:23:00.000+01:00

A meal for two at Gordon Ramsey’s at Claridges, a pampering at Champneys and a brilliant Armani time piece are just a few of the fabulous gifts on offer from Air Charter Service’s innovative new Loyalty Scheme.

The scheme is designed to reward the long term loyalty of travel agents, business executives, personal assistants and other discerning people who regularly book travel through Air Charter Service, leading provider of helicopter, light aircraft and executive jets and airliners for charter.

Once registered, and after the second charter is booked, one point is awarded for every £10 spent on a booking; points can then be exchanged for a whole range of fabulous luxury gifts, the values of which depend on how many points are being exchanged.

As specialists in charter travel, and with offices in London, New York, Moscow and Dubai, Air Charter Service works round the clock to provide an unrivalled, fast response whether for the individual executive or large groups.

You can register for the Loyalty Scheme at www.aircharter.co.uk

VIP day trip to Nice

2006-05-11T17:19:00.000+01:00

Air Charter Service’s New York office jumped into action this Easter when a VIP client on holiday in Europe called Dan Rich to see if he could arrange a private jet to the south of France at late notice.

The client and his family were on holiday in London but decided at the last minute to throw caution to the wind and spend a day in Nice – famous for its narrow streets, famous beach promenade and rich architectural heritage.

Despite the late notice on a holiday weekend Dan was able to liaise with Air Charter Service’s London office and arrange for a Falcon 900EX aircraft to fly the family quickly to their destination.

For more passenger news see www.aircharter.co.uk