Bournemouth Blueprint Gives Gama Aviation A Platform to Perform

Gama Aviation’s state-of-the-art facility at Bournemouth Airport, which was officially opened earlier this summer, marks a major milestone in the history and development of the 36-year-old company.

The decision to merge their turboprop and business jet businesses in Bournemouth was clearly a significant moment, underpinning their growth strategy, not only in the United Kingdom, but also worldwide. The modern facility offers 100,000 square feet of hangarage – capable of handling anything from a Cessna to a B747. There’s also an additional 35,000 square feet of office space, which will support the EU Ground Headquarters and provide suitable accommodation for visiting VIP’s and clients. 

Dr Scott McVicar, Managing Director of Gama Aviation’s EU Ground Engineering business also points to the importance of having the right culture at Bournemouth, “the landlord at Bournemouth is very aviation-centric, they’re not just interested in collecting the rent. They are really looking to build an aviation community on the site, and that's very much something that we wanted to be part of”

Beyond Bournemouth, Gama Aviation is investing significantly in their footprint and capabilities worldwide. US$10 million has been earmarked in the US, to add engineering and base maintenance capabilities to their existing network of 16-line maintenance facilities. Gama are also investing approximately US$40 million in a new state-of-art-art facility in Sharjah and are investing in their wide-bodied aircraft and business aviation solutions at Hong Kong International Airport with sister company CASL.

Duncan Daines, Group Chief Marketing Officer sees Bournemouth as a springboard for this global expansion, “We are investing as a company across the globe, establishing new facilities, building our brand, and building our presence. We see Bournemouth as a kind of blueprint that we would like to roll out around the world. I think our customers will soon see more and more of our base maintenance capabilities and more world-class facilities such as Bournemouth”

Those customers, from special mission’s operations, to business jet owners and VIPs, have come to appreciate Gama Aviation’s ethos, as Scott McVicar explains, “Gama Aviation is all about doing important things for important people. All of our clients fulfil an important mission within their own right, and they're dependent upon aviation to deliver that mission. But aviation isn't core to the business. They don't need to understand it, nor do they want to understand that. They just need to consume the service in order to do what they do. Our business is all about providing that certainty and that surety within an aviation context to important customers who do an important mission in their own right”.

Long-term customer of Gama Aviation, the Scottish Ambulance Service, is a very good example of this. Flying emergency medical teams to locations across Scotland at critical point of need requires having complete trust that the aircraft will be mission ready at all times. If the aircraft isn’t available at the right time, then genuinely people's lives could be impacted.

Gama Aviation defines this as a giving their customers “A Platform to Perform”. By removing some of the complexities of the aviation aspects of their operations and by creating simplicity within the environment in which they operate, Gama Aviation enables their customers to concentrate on fulfilling their core mission.

With the new Bournemouth facility as a blueprint, and a global expansion plan, customers worldwide can look forward to Gama Aviation providing them with their own platform to perform in the very near future.