Montreal, Quebec-headquartered Airhawke has completed the acquisition of fellow Canadian business Berletex Aero Design. Airhawke, which specialises in delivering the engineering necessary to convert, complete or modify executive, special mission or cargo aircraft, now wholly owns Berletex.

The acquisition, which began just over a year ago, has seen Airhawke chief executive officer David Vanderzwaag embrace the 25 year legacy of Berletex and add new customers, services and workforce to deliver an enriched portfolio of options. Vanderzwaag is working alongside Berletex founder and vice president of customer relations Ross Bellingham, who remains with Airhawke, to ensure customers receive engineering services with the same excellence and reliability that Berletex is famed for. Airhawke has already added more than 10 new team members to the business, increasing the workforce to 25.

“We have admired Berletex for a number of years and appreciated the incredible depth and breadth of the knowledge within the company,” says Vanderzwaag. “It was the company's strong reputation, the talented workforce and an impressive client portfolio that initially caught our eye. Now that we have worked with the team for over a year, we have discovered even more potential than we originally anticipated and are excited to continue providing high-quality services to our valued existing customers, as well as new ones. Airhawke customers expect excellence, and we plan to meet and exceed these expectations.”

Integration of new technology has already begun with the latest solutions and certification services being incorporated into design projects to expand offerings and improve communications while reducing time and optimising budgets. Airhawke has also introduced the concept of an internationally distributed workforce, which leverages collaborative tools to support customer projects with employees located close to or at customer facilities onsite across the globe.

Airhawke is marking the transition by unifying the Berletex and Airhawke brand under the single Airhawke name. Aligning the companies is aimed at streamlining processes, service provision and will simplify customer support. Leading the brand transition and marketing strategy is VP marketing Rachel Vanderzwaag.