Gama Aviation (stand 383) will break ground this month on its first European fixed-base operation and hangar at Glasgow airport in Scotland. The 2,000m2 (21,520ft2) facility is scheduled for completion in 12 months.
The expansion is part of the Farnborough, UK-based business aviation services provider's strategy to cultivate key markets on both sides of the Atlantic during the economic slowdown in preparation for the market revival.
Gama - which expanded into North America in March 2008 with the acquisition of PrivatAir's US arm and launched charter services in February from new base in Sharjah - has been affected by the economic downturn.
"The past 18 months have been among the most challenging ever seen by the business aviation industry," says Gama group chief executive Marwan Khalek. "A global recession, combined with the reduced availability of aircraft finance have been quite unlike any of the downturns I have seen since we started the company in 1983."
But he adds that "the current economic climate is the perfect opportunity to focus on where we have needed to invest to secure our future, and have been busy putting these plans into action".
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Source: Flight Daily News
