For our Perspectives series, we talk to experienced business aviation industry professionals who share with us their individual insights and offer a window into their world. This month's interviewee is Carlos H. Schattenkirchner, regional director, China for UAS International Trip Support. Coronavirus has posed plenty of difficulties for UAS, and the Asia Pacific region's susceptibility to typhoons means there is rarely a dull moment.

“We have our Asia Pacific headquarters in Beijing. I’m the regional director, and I have been in China since the end of 2016. Before that I was in our group headquarters in Dubai. We offer trip support services for Asia-based clients throughout the region. This is not limited to business aviation, as we also help commercial clients and cargo operators. For China specifically, we also offer handling services all over the country. Our teams on the ground support commercial and business aviation handling for international clients as well as overflight permits, ground arrangements and any kind of support an operator would need for a flight.

Though clients are based in our region, they fly globally and our team provides global assistance. We also provide secure transportation for crews, and we handle catering too. Wherever an operator needs support, we jump in.

We are based right at the core of the Coronavirus outbreak, which started for us in January and then spread throughout the world. China was the first country where it had a large impact, and we suddenly ran into complete lockdown situations. This didn’t only apply to our office; our Chinese clients suddenly weren’t flying any more. It all happened very fast, while the rest of the planet was still operating normally in February and March 2020. Chinese clients had already felt the impact, while other clients in Asia Pacific had not, at that time.

The spread meant that more and more countries closed borders or had various cities in lockdown. By the end of Q1 and into Q2, almost all business aviation came to a standstill. Not only was travel limited, passengers were now in fear of travelling. We consulted with operators about the best way to handle the situation, arranging proper parking where ground time could be optimised with maintenance tasks. Some parts of Asia Pacific are typhoon regions. Normally we would move aircraft that are parked in those regions but we were unable to move them, so this was an additional point we had to consider. There was a lot to do on the ground support side, even though aircraft were not flying. Flight movements were very little.

We saw a large spike in demand for cargo from China. PPE including masks couldn’t be produced as fast as it was needed, so lots of operators came to China and filled up the cabin with much-needed supply. Sometimes business aviation aircraft are just used to pick up cargo, a unique situation.

The reality for Asia Pacific is that travel is still hardly possible at the moment. The borders of lots of countries remain closed. Vaccinations are now happening, and in China they have vaccinated key workers including crews. I think there is some momentum now, and countries are going to be accepting each other’s vaccinations. This will enable travel bubbles, and I think this is the direction we are heading in.

Throughout the region, fleets of business jets have not decreased. We haven’t seen clients suddenly deciding to sell their aircraft. The overall business aviation fleet remains stable, and aircraft on order have not been cancelled, by and large. I think it will turn out to be a temporary slowdown.”