Athens-based operator GainJet recently celebrated its 10th anniversary of AOC operations with a party attended by 300 of its industry colleagues and partners. Over the last decade the operator has managed 33 aircraft, 26 of which were registered in Greece. Currently operating 12 large cabin and long range aircraft with offices in the Glyfada district of the city, GainJet has a Part 145 facility at Athens airport and is an endorser of the Long Range auxiliary fuel tank scheme, which has now had STC approval.

Captain Ramsey Shaban set up the company in late 2005, and GainJet received its AOC in April 2006. “We thought it would be nice to celebrate this great achievement, but to be honest we never need much excuse to have a celebration,” he says.

“The company is owned by a large group, which I joined in 1999. At the time it had four aircraft – three Gulfstreams and one MD-83. We managed these privately. But then in early 2002 we started looking at aviation companies to invest in within Europe. We came across a company in Austria with which we went into a 50 per cent partnership, contributing two or three aircraft of our own. The company grew nicely over the next decade.

“We then looked at other assets in Europe to acquire, and we looked to Greece, which seemed to be the next logical location. It is central, close to the Middle East and close to Africa. It is part of Europe and it is close to the Balkans. Most importantly it is a country that is abundant in very highly skilled, professional people, especially in terms of pilots, engineers and mechanics. It has worked very nicely for us.”

The financial collapse in 2008 caused business to drop by up to 50 per cent, but after weathering the storm Shaban started to rebuild the business again. He continues: “Our policy from day one was not to put all of our eggs in one basket. Having our AOC in Greece has put us on the European scene. You can operate freely in Europe, which has been an advantage for us. Our aircraft are scattered all over the place, including the Middle East and Africa. We have a small presence in Greece in terms of assets, with only two of our aircraft permanently based here. The rest are all working outside Greece, since it makes up only a small part of our revenue stream.

“We are expecting to create a medevac base in Athens, as we expand our medevac operation. We will base one of our Challenger 604 aircraft here. This will be a centrally located base for our medevac oper-ation to serve Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The aircraft is equipped with a state-of-the-art medical system and will be crewed by highly experienced pilots, doctors and flight nurses. We are working closely with major hospitals and other medical professionals in Greece for this operation, and have the support of the authorities for the project.”

The operator spreads its business evenly between its various areas of operation, but has stayed away from the lower end of the market, preferring to concentrate on long haul. “We initially had a small aircraft but we walked away from this because we realised that there is a lot of competition for VLJs and midsize cabins,” Ramsey explains. “It is cut-throat and the margins are so thin. If you want to make money you'd have to fly close to 1,000 hours and make heavy use of the aircraft before you see any profit. We decided to move into ultra-long range and large; the smallest we have is a Challenger 604.”

GainJet has long-term contracts with major football clubs and three national European football teams. It has also carried individuals, groups, music groups, rugby teams, heads of state and governments. With corporate jets, the aircraft is not generally full: “We tend to see between 20 and 70 per cent cabin space usage,” says Ramsey. “We fly the G550 and the G650 and these have a special clientele and a special market. They are not linked to the football clubs or the pop groups because these type of customers travel in larger groups of 20 or more people. We have specific aircraft catering for this market. Serving the customers' needs is paramount. We have the 20-64 passenger zone, the 10-15, and the 8-10.

“We also try to avoid short sectors with our jets, because the profit margins dwindle when you do this, and you are adding cycles to the plane. We can do a one-hour sector followed by a seven-hour sector, but this is the only time we like to do this. We don't feel it is appropriate to do domestic flying with a G550 or G650, because these aircraft are not designed for this type of flying. We had a request to fly a G550 from Athens to Mikonos but we refrained from it. Of course, these jets can do small sectors but they are the wrong sector structure for them.”

The most recent development for GainJet has been the acquisition of an AOC at Shannon and the subsequent formation of subsidiary company GainJet Ireland. The company is also a founding member of AfBAA, and Ramsey expects African activities to increase. He concludes: “We have the Challenger based in Kuwait, another one in Greece, and are thinking of basing our third long range, large body aircraft in Africa. It is always necessary to make a slow but firm movement into these markets. We might look at another G550 too, since it's proven to be one of our most reliable platforms so far. All these aircraft would be owned by the company.”