Business aviation group purchasing organization AVIAA is adding over 150 new aircraft to its membership after reaching an agreement with Europe’s smart purchasing business Convolus to merge their operations.
The move will see AVIAA widen its footprint in Europe, with the establishment of an office in Munich, Germany, complementing its existing bases in the UK and USA.
Irena Deville, co-founder and CEO of Convolus, becomes managing director – Europe and Middle East for AVIAA, and will work alongside California-based CEO Gillian Hayes and her team.
Hayes commented, “We are delighted to have formalized this agreement with Convolus. It marks a significant strategic step for AVIAA, which will enable us to deliver larger scale global purchasing for our collective members and suppliers.”
After the acquisition formally concludes, the AVIAA community will support a member fleet of nearly 500 aircraft and a network of suppliers with global operations across every spend category, including an international FBO network.
Existing Convolus members will be integrated into the AVIAA community. In addition to the increased buying power the fleet merger will afford them, they will also be able to accrue further cost savings in the AVIAA supply chain, which covers expanded service categories including insurance, maintenance, fuel, business operations, and crew training.
AVIAA’s predominately USA-based members will be able to draw benefits and savings from the group’s 100-strong European FBO network, from large multi-destination handlers to standalone individual FBOs.
Deville commented, “Business aviation in Europe remains significantly fragmented. The opportunity to scale up and expand with AVIAA means we can optimize our technology solutions; combine our procurement data sets globally to better inform pricing, predict spend; and streamline our transactions.
“It all comes down to better serving our members and suppliers as we add new categories to support our mainstay pillars.”
