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Current news

» January, 2012 - Air Charter Service raises significant amount for charity
» November, 2011 - Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 2011
» October, 2011 - Half year results 2011
» April, 2011 - Air Charter Service helps to rescue stranded vessel
» March, 2011 - Japanese evacuations become latest in ACS’s relief operations this year
» April, 2010 - ACS New York experiences steady growth
» March, 2010 - ACS New York performs heavy lift despite snow storms
» January, 2010 - Stuart Smith becomes the new Cargo Sales Director of ACS New York
» November, 2009 - Air Charter Service New York charters world's largest aircraft
» October, 2009 - Air Charter Service rescue gig
» September, 2009 - ACS New York utilises global network of offices



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.


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.”


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.



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



ACS New York experiences steady growth
April, 2010

Air Charter Service, one of the world’s leading names in cargo aircraft charters, has seen steady growth in the past 12 months, despite global economic uncertainty.

The company’s New York office in particular has flourished, with an increase in contracted charters of more than forty per cent over the last year. Ruan Courtney, President ACS North America, put it down to his team: “We have a strong, highly skilled and experienced team of account managers here, whose knowledge and personal service levels have proved invaluable this past year or so. Whilst the market in general has been filled with stories of doom and gloom, we’ve experienced substantial growth.”

In the first three months of 2010 alone numbers were up three-fold on 2009’s figures. Courtney commented: “We had a peak season flurry of Far East to USA business in the last quarter of 2009, but the number of charters has stayed high into the start of this year, right up to Chinese New Year. This growth in 2009 enabled us to open our new Toronto office in February which has started to make significant profits already under the guidance of Gary Hopkins.

“Another reason for the busy start to year has been the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. We have sent many charters to the region carrying aid for the victims, and continue to do so. The ash cloud in Northern Europe also affected business, as many scheduled carriers had a backlog of cargo, which meant more people needed to charter to save their goods being affected by a knock on delay.”

For all charter enquiries, please email us at: cargo@usa-aircharter.com



ACS New York performs heavy lift despite snow storms
March, 2010

Air Charter Service’s New York operation managed to get some highly sensitive construction material on site in Riga, Latvia despite atrocious weather conditions on the U.S. East Coast.

Ruan Courtney, President of ACS New York, was asked to transport 65 tons of building equipment from JFK Airport to the Baltic State. There were very particular handling requirements and the cargo needed to be escorted by three cargo attendants, to prevent damage or tampering, for the duration of the flight.

Everything was running smoothly until the actual day of the flight, when New York was hit by a major snowstorm. The area of low pressure knocked out power across the region and caused most flights at both JFK and Newark Airports to be cancelled completely.

Despite the blizzard the sensitive cargo was loaded carefully, but efficiently. On the morning of the charter no other flights had left JFK, but ACS and the operator worked tirelessly to ensure the aircraft was de-iced and acquired a slot from Air Traffic Control who allowed it to leave with the minimum of delays.

The customer was extremely grateful and praised the expertise and professionalism of Air Charter Service and the aircraft’s crew.

For all charter enquiries, please email us at: cargo@usa-aircharter.com



Stuart Smith becomes the new Cargo Sales Director of ACS New York


January, 2010

As ACS heads into 2010 following its record year, their New York office welcomes a new Cargo Sales Director. Stuart Smith, formerly holding the same role in the company’s Dubai operation, takes over from Gary Hopkins as he moves to Toronto to head up the new office there.

Smith joined Air Charter Service’s London office in 2005, and quickly gained a great knowledge of the industry enabling him to move to the U.A.E. to help with the newly formed Dubai office in 2006. Smith went from strength to strength and within a couple of years became Cargo Sales Director. In 2009 Smith was in charge of the Dubai cargo department as it more than doubled 2008’s figures despite the economic downturn.

Ruan Courtney, President of ACS New York, said: “Whilst we’re sorry to lose Gary, Stuart is a more than qualified replacement. Gary will thrive in the newly founded Toronto office, and Stuart can pick up where he left off. We’ve had our record year here in the New York office as well and we look forward to continuing to prosper in 2010”.

Smith added: “This is an exciting new challenge for me in what is a very different market to that of Dubai. But the tough negotiations with operators in the Middle East and the level of service required stands me in good stead and means that I will be able to gain my new clients the best possible prices and offer a genuinely good service.

Air Charter Service was founded in 1990, and currently turns over US$265 million annually and it operates around 4000 charters per year on all types of aircraft ranging from cargo charters, to private jet charters, to commercial airliners. ACS’s offerings and service have proved so popular, that in a market considered to be shrinking by about 25% in 2009, ACS grew by around 30%, in both terms of numbers of charters, as well as overall revenue.



Air Charter Service New York charters world's largest aircraft


November, 2009

Ruan Courtney, President ACS New York, recently chartered the huge Antonov 225. The aircraft, the single largest freighter in the World, flew from Edmonton, Alberta to East Midlands Airport in the UK.

The 250 tonne capacity, 6 engined Russian aircraft was chartered to carry a generator across the Atlantic. Courtney flew on board with the cargo and said: “The tricky sized cargo was easily carried by the aircraft and the flight was completed without a hitch.”

“The client was very happy with the way the flight went and was delighted that they had chartered the impressive AN-225”, Courtney added.

For all charter enquiries, please email us at: cargo@usa-aircharter.com



Air Charter Service rescue gig
October, 2009

Michael Kubik of Air Charter Service’s New York operation recently had to act fast to save hundreds of fans’ disappointment. A South American musician was due to play an intimate gig in Philadelphia and his equipment was being transported there on a scheduled airline service from Toledo, Ohio. When the tour company were informed just 6 hours before the show was set to start that the equipment was not on the flight due to a technical fault with the aircraft, everyone panicked.

Michael was called in an attempt to rescue the situation. Kubik’s knowledge and experience meant that he was able to quickly source a local Cessna Caravan aircraft, and he got the wheels in motion straight away. The equipment made it to the venue just 30 minutes before the doors opened, and the tour company said that the musician and fans would be very grateful! She stated “You guys saved the day!”

For all your cargo charter enquiries, please contact us at cargo@usa-aircharter.com



ACS New York utilises global network of offices
September, 2009

Gary Hopkins, cargo manager ACS New York, was presented with a challenge recently when he had to move a piece of oilwell equipment from Houston to Port Harcourt in Nigeria. The difficulty was the size of it - it was over eighteen feet long and weighed 25,000 lbs!

Gary phoned his local contacts, but the client’s budget was too little. Using his years of experience and ACS’s worldwide network of offices, Gary worked with Richard Thompson in the London office. Gary found a scheduled B747 noseloader flying from Houston to Luxembourg. And Richard was able to find a part charter on an MD-11 through his contacts locally in Europe. It was due to depart from Ostend, Belgium to the required destination, so all that was needed was a truck between the two airports. Because the aircraft was going to Port Harcourt anyway, there was no need to wait for traffic rights – which could have been a problem due to Ramadan – and avoided costly royalties.

For all charter enquiries, please email us at: cargo@usa-aircharter.com

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National Business Aircraft Association National Air Transport Association Air Charter Association of North America European Business Aviation Association Baltic Air Charter Association Federation Of Airline General Sales Agents Association of European Businesses The International Air Cargo Association