The ground support division of Universal Aviation is expanding with a new base and more services for business aircraft in Turkey.
Universal Aviation Turkey, which has been formed by partnering with Ferda Yildiz and Kaan Air locally, is based at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul and will provide supervisory ground support for business aircraft at all airports across Turkey.
The decision to expand into Turkey was based on increasing customer demand for operations into Turkey and better service levels on the ground that what has previously been available, said the company
Greg Evans, chairman of Universal Aviation said, “Turkey and Istanbul in particular is a rapidly growing business aviation market with good infrastructure and potential for growth, but it also continues to be a challenging destination for our customers due to service levels, parking availability and operating restrictions.
“Our clients told us they need faster response times and higher quality service on the ground, more transparency in pricing and quicker parking confirmations in Turkey. By directly providing ground supervision for our clients throughout Turkey, with our own professionals trained to our global standards, we are better positioned to reduce the inherent operating risks and ensure the success of their missions.”
With the opening of the new Istanbul Airport (LTFM) in 2019, all commercial airline traffic is now diverted from Istanbul Ataturk Airport.
“We decided to base our Turkey headquarters at LTBA because it is now the best airport option for business aviation operators in Istanbul,” said Evans. “With no commercial traffic, arrivals, departure, and taxi times are significantly faster. LTBA is also much more conveniently located to Istanbul’s city center, and provides greater operational flexibility in terms of both parking, slots, scheduled maintenance options, and customer preference to the airport’s general aviation terminal.”
Universal Aviation, in coordination with Ferda Yildiz and Kaan Air, is also able to offer helicopter transport from plane side to many destinations in town and vice versa, or provide point to point trips for business meetings, avoiding the very challenging Istanbul traffic.
“Looking ahead, 2020, is going to be an exciting year of growth for Universal and our Universal Aviation network, as we continue to expand to high-risk, high-stress locations,” said Evans.
The addition of Universal Aviation Turkey extends the Universal Aviation network to 18 locations in the Europe, Middle East and Africa Region. Universal Aviation also has 17 locations in the Asia-Pacific region and 19 in Latin America for 50+ locations across 25+ countries.
