Aircraft handling company Omni Handling is to open a 150m² FBO in Faro, Portugal and has plans to open new stations in Santa Maria and Madeira
The company, which already holds a 50%-plus market share in Lisbon, Cascais, Porto and Faro said it is looking to expand after it has seen strong growth in the business aviation market in Portugal and the surrounding region in the past year.
Business aviation movements in and out of Portugal grew 22.2% during the first quarter of 2019 compared to the year before, according to WingX. The period saw over 500 large jet movements.
Bombardier Globals topped the leaderboard with 92 departures in the period, representing a 33.3% growth (18% of the total), Gulfstream G650/G600 departures were up 150% during the first three months of 2019. In the light bizav category, Pilatus PC-12 movements were up 14% in the first quarter of 2019, delivering a 10% year-on-year growth.
Faro, which is capital of tourist region the Algarve experienced a 10.4% in movements, while Cascais, another main Omni Handling station, grew 19.5% in the same period.
Ricardo Pereira, CEO of Omni Handling, said, “To boost our growth and maintain our leadership, we believe the time is now ripe to widen our offering. We have some exciting new projects and territories planned. Top of the agenda is a new FBO in Faro .”
“We want to capitalize on the growth, support our existing customers and attract new ones,” Mr Pereira concluded.
