Gulfstream says its decision to return to Paris in 2013 after a break of eight years paid dividends, and now airframer is planning to make the biennial event a permanent fixture on its already packed air show calendar.
“Paris attracts a number of existing and potential customers who are either attending show or living in the area,” says Gulfstream’s senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, Scott Neal.
“It also gives us another opportunity after EBACE [Europe’s dedicated business aviation event, held in May] to showcase our products in the region to an totally international audience,” he continues.
Europe accounts for 9% of Gulfstream’s worldwide fleet – equivalent to 210-plus aircraft, mainly in its large cabin family. “This is our third largest market after North America [65%] and Asia Pacific [12%],” Neal continues.
The European inventory has grown by a third in the last five years and is continuing to expand, he adds. There are “good pockets of activity” in western and eastern Europe including Russia, where the sanctions, he says have not had a "significant impact" on sales of its business jets.
Gulfstream’s optimism in the European market is reflected its huge investment across the continent to support the growing fleet.
“We have a company-owned service centre at Luton airport and authorised maintenance facilities across the region,” says Neal. Gulfstream recently added a European parts distribution centre at London Heathrow airport and has a number of rapid response units - known as field and airborne support teams (FAST) – located across the region to keep the fleet airborne.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
