Swan Aviation is preparing itself for a busy summer which will see the arrival of two new aircraft and ongoing planning for a high-tech heliport for Istanbul.

The first fleet addition, a Falcon 2000EX EASy, has arrived at its base in Istanbul for registration and is expected to enter service imminently. Purchased by one of Swan's customers, it is a 2004 model with eight seats. The second new arrival will be a brand new Hawker 4000 scheduled for delivery in June and will be based in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Both of the new aircraft will be available for charter as well as the owners' business and leisure flights. Swan's founder and owner Mehmet Yuksel Hocaoglu expects to be flying further afield in future: "Our customer portfolio changes depending on where the aircraft are based. That also affects the most commonly used routes. So far we have done a great deal of charter/owner flying within the Eurasia/Africa region. With the addition of the Hawker 4000 and Falcon 2000EX it seems our range may go beyond these regions. We will be more than happy to accommodate such requests."

The current fleet comprises two Hawker 850XPs, one Citation Excel and one Sikorsky S76C++. Hocaoglu offers owners assistance in selecting aircraft types through his other company, Europlane Aviation Services. "But in some cases the aircraft is already chosen," he says. "For both of the recently acquired aircraft we were part of the selection process. Both were chosen consid-ering cabin size and range versus price. Maintenance is a factor, not only for ease but availability in the region where it will operate. We tried to melt it all in one pot. But as always, the verdict rests with the buyer." Swan Aviation is a relatively small company, and Hocaoglu believes this provides a competitive advantage. "We work with very demanding businessmen who will not settle for anything less than perfect. Therefore we have a target number in our fleet. When we reach that we will stop getting new aircraft to be able to keep focus on our valued customers."

But for the time being there is still capacity in his fleet. "We are consulting a few businessmen and at least four of them are now ready to be aircraft owners," he reports.

Aircraft utilisation and the flight demands of his aircraft owners are now growing, so much so that he believes the amount of available charter capacity will fall, but these favourable conditions are only just developing. "Swan was founded in 2007 just before the crisis. But when I think of it now it made us stronger. Even though it may seem odd to some people, my first priority is my personnel. If they are not happy, how could they make my customers happy? If the customer is happy the shareholders of the company are happy. So we are based on three legs which support each other. Since day one we have focused on one thing, the quality of our job. And it got us here so far."

Hocaoglu is an ex-air force pilot. He resigned and started to fly for airlines, and established Europlane Aviation Services in 2001. "I quit flying in 2005 due to a lot office work. I simply couldn't be in the air any longer. I still miss it," he says.

One project generating much paperwork at the moment is a plan to build a heliport together with a major Turkish holding company in Istanbul. The facility is to include a hangar to accommodate six helicopters, a little bigger than 1,500 sq m, an apron for at least 10 helicopters, a maintenance facility and FBO. The hangar will have offices, workshops, storage rooms, vip lounge and fitness room. "It will be high tech facility with all security and safety measures. Projects are approved, finance is received and we are waiting for approval from the local authorities for construction. We may move in by the end of summer 2011," says Hocaoglu.