Castle Air of Biggin Hill airport in the UK has purchased Sovereign Business Jets and is thereby expanding into fixed wing operations. The operator, which exclusively flew rotary missions up to this point, has now obtained a global AOC and will be offering an on-demand 'go-now' charter service with interlining at Biggin Hill.

The on-demand service is based on the formula Castle Air created with its rotary charter business and is targeted at travellers who need to fly at very short notice. It is offering to collect clients from home or office by helicopter and fly them to Biggin Hill where the Castle Air ops team can arrange immediate access to a range of business jets.

“We know the broker community in particular will value offering their clients access to our go-now service,” says MD Ross Bunyard. “Busy people often require air travel urgently at short notice and London Biggin Hill is the ideal airport for a smooth interline sequence. We have plans to expand our fixed wing business with both midsize and long haul aircraft such as the G550 or Global Express by the end of this year.”

The operator has recently made use of Centrik technology by Total AOC to streamline its functions. Bunyard says that this, combined with the Sovereign news, bodes extremely well for the remainder of 2016. “We want to introduce the same on-demand flying that we do with rotary and which really works well for our customers because we have got the fleet and we have got the pilots here waiting to go. People don't really have the time to think that far ahead. This all follows on from the rotary scheme, which has been massively successful.

“It helps that Biggin Hill airport is in such a great position and is a great facility. The London Heli Shuttle has been important too. Our ops departments work very closely with each other to make sure that the customer gets the service that they require and deserve, and we have managed to start the ball rolling very quickly.

“Having to deal with more than one company to manage your aviation requirements is just painful. To be able to come to one telephone number and one person; it gets dealt with. There is always someone on the phone here ready to assist.”