How Aviation has influenced you as a child and brought you here?
I was in aviation even before I was born. My father spent his entire career in aviation, and headed the Concorde Programme. I have always admired this industry and always said the great thing about being part of it is being able to have your feet solidly on the ground, yet your head with the stars.
How did you progress to your current position since you entered into this supreme industry?
Even if I love any flying products I am not an engineer and studied law and international business. I began my career in 1986 in the Treasury Division of Aerospatiale (now Airbus) based in Washington DC, USA, until 1988 where I was financing helicopters in the US. I joined Airbus in 1988 where I was successively Director Customer Finance and Director Asset Management. I then served in various management positions in the aerospace industry, as Senior Director with Airbus in charge of the Asset Management team in the USA between 1995 and 2000 and Vice President Sales and Contracts at ATR (Toulouse, France) between 2000 and 2002. I then set up Blueberry Aviation in Dublin in 2003, just over 20 years ago.
Where do you see Fixed Wing /Helicopters fleet needs going in the coming years?
Helicopters provide essential services to society which currently cannot be replaced by any other aircraft programmes at least in the medium term. EMS, rescue, civilian protection, fire-fighting services are proving critical services daily globally. However, the acquisition costs of a helicopter have become extremely high for operators and leadtime to acquire new helicopters is now critically long. The second hand market offers an efficient solution for the operators to respond to these issues. Helicopter demand is far from being on the decline as there is a real need, which should remain stable on the mid to long term. Our objective is to be able to find the right equipment for our clients anywhere and at any time.
Regarding Commercial aircraft with post-covid travel recovery, we have seen very strong global demand for commercial aircraft.
Manufactures are not in a position to keep up with new aircraft or parts supply and there is a huge opportunity for second hand aircraft trading and leasing activity. The current lack of capacity has never been so huge since the 90s and our tasks is to source equipment for the airlines to maintain their growth and profitability. We believe this lack of offer will continue for the next two years in particular for the narrowbody market due to the GTF engine issues for the A320 NEO family and more generally supplies ability to meet the Manufactures ramp-up.
What is the average age of fleet you sell?
We offer used helicopters and commercial aircraft of all age’s for all requirements. We have worked on projects for part out as well. However what makes quite unique is that we are able to propose brand new helicopters as we currently have several orders on our books for 2024 and 2025 deliveries. We are aware of Indian DGCA constraints with an age limit for aircraft entering the registry, and helicopters to 20 years. We see this as a real opportunity for new or very recent helicopters that we are in a position to offer to the growing Indian market.
What are the products & services currently Blueberry Aviation is offering for India & Asia Markets?
Our core business is – and has been for 20 years – civil helicopter and commercial aircraft sales and acquisitions, remarketing services and procurement advisory, financial services fleet appraisals, technical inspections in the Asian market, as for the rest of the global aviation market.
Blueberry Aviation offers a global dedicated team of experienced sales, technical and legal experts, allowing to evaluate customers’ requirements in detail, maximize opportunities by talking to an extensive and diverse active worldwide network of helicopter owners and operators, find the best aircraft or owner to fit the requirement anywhere in the world. Blueberry Aviation looks after negotiations, manages the full acquisition/sale process from beginning to end: contracts, inspections, reconfigurations, maintenance, delivery and de/reregistration of the aircraft.
Blueberry Aviation is a major player worldwide. Its staff is made up of 25 highly skilled individuals based in Monaco, Dublin, New York, Mumbai, and Singapore. By 2023 it had completed over 520 helicopter transactions with more than 290 customers for an asset value exceeding $1.88 billion. It also completed more than 170 commercial aircraft transactions for over 65 customers for an asset value above $3.5 billion.
What do you see as the most significant challenges and possibilities for the industry in the years ahead?
For most of the segments of the Aviation industry I would see the following challenges in the medium term:
Attractiveness for the young generation: when I started to work in Aviation every engineers and junior sales person wanted to work in aviation. This is no longer the case. Now new tech, IT …is more attractive for young generation. It is not only the salary which might be higher but also because the aviation industry is no longer seen as being part of the future. This is a pity and the industry needs to act to make this changed in the young generation spirit.
Logistics and ability to deliver quality products on time and with reasonable prices: the recent events post Covid have increased delivery delays and quality issues. Inflation on manpower and materials will have also a substantial impact on price. This is why the used market is very active right now as operators could get quality products which have been operated and proved efficient and safe for many years, along with reasonable pricing (even if second hand prices have also increased due to increase in demand).
Over the Long term the industry will need to bring new technology which will be safe, economically viable and provide a real impact on sustainability. We do not particularly believe in electric aviation in particular to replace commercial jets or helicopters (at least for most of the missions). Hydrogen might be more viable but it will clearly take a long time before it could be implemented efficiently, assuming green hydrogen could be efficiently produced and distributed. SAF has the same issue: it could be a very interesting solution to reduce CO2 emission as long as it can be produced economically and sustainably in large quantities (SAF is the main contributor to the 2050 industry objective to be CO2 netural). We do not expect this to occur over the short to medium term.
Could you share with us your visions and priorities for the company? What is the roadmap ahead and what are the major objectives?
As mentioned above attractiveness to the young generation is key to our business. This is also particularly true for a company like Blueberry Aviation. Our goal is to continue to attract young talents while benefiting from the incredible experience of our senior executives. We also need to make sure that this expertise is properly transmitted within the team which will ultimately be key to the quality of services we provide to our customers.
Blueberry Aviation is all about people and what they deliver to our customers.
On the pure business side we need to ensure that we continue to actively source and manage the current products while we also look at how we could help new technology to be available to our customers. This is what we do through our partnership with Dufour Aerospace. This Swiss company will soon deliver hybrid VTOL solution through its unique tilt wing technology. The first unnamed product Aero2 (providing 40 kg Payload over 350 kms at 170 km/hr speed) will be followed soon by a larger version (Aero3) providing large cargo capability (one ton) or six pax transport for EMS, urgent freight or critical missions.
Welcoming the New Year 2024, your cheering message for our fellow aviators would be..?
Believe in the future of Aviation. Be open to embrace new technologies, support and invest into research but do not sell dreams. We will continue to fly, higher, safer and more sustainably. Aviation will continue to move people and goods around the globe, and save and protect lives.
Let’s make Aviation great again!
For Further Details:
Mr. Girish Laungani
Commercial Director – India
g.laungani@BlueBerryAviation.com
