Universal Aviation has opened facilities in Ireland and France, as well as expanding its facility in Italy and increasing its territory to include Russia and the CIS states.

The company's Irish office, based at Dublin Airport, was opened this month and is positioned to serve the country's east coast. Facilities include a vip lounge, crew lounge, private shower facility and customs and immigration pre-clearance.

"We're delighted to announce that our Dublin facility is up and running in time for our clients to plan their Ryder Cup trips in September," said Brendan O'Grady, managing director of Universal Aviation.

Paris Le Bourget International Airport is the site for Universal's recently-moved French facility. It is designed to serve the Greater Paris region and features a private hangar capable of accommodating two larger commerically-sized aircraft used for business aviation, on-site gourmet catering and a vip lounge.

The company's Rome facility has been awarded a full ground-handling contract and now has a full inventory of ground-handling equipment to support all aircraft types. Crew lounge/rest facilities have also been added for day stops.

Universal's European growth also includes the expansion of its territory to include Russia and the CIS states. The expansion of services took effect in April.

The company's European team identified an opportunity to extend full trip support services for flights to and from: Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus.

Said Barry Burton, manager, European operations centre: "Now, with the growth of traffic in the Russian region, the timing is right for us to further extend our services to offer full trip support to clients travelling to and from Russia and all the CIS states."