 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (February 2025) |
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| Industry | Aviation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1961 |
| Founder | Tony Mack |
| Headquarters | 2 City Place, Beehive Ring Road, Gatwick, West Sussex, RH6 0PA United Kingdom |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Mark Briffa (CEO) |
| Parent | Wheels Up |
| Website | Official website |
Founded in 1961, Air Partner is a global aviation services group providing aircraft charter services and aviation safety & security.
Charter work represents Air Partner's largest income stream at 87% of the group's profits.[1]
In April 2022, Air Partner group was acquired by Wheels Up and delisted from the London Stock Exchange.[2]
Chronology
[edit] |
2003: Air Partner delivers at least 4,000 tonnes of military supplies during the first Gulf War. In an interview, chairman Tony Mack explained: "The Gulf War was a windfall for us. We’d hate to say ‘yippee, we’re going to war’, but I guess the net effect would be positive."[3]
2006: The JetCard membership scheme is unveiled. JetCard offers benefits for regular flyers.[4]
UK headquarter moves to a larger premises alongside London Gatwick Airport, opposite The Beehive - Gatwick’s original terminal building with its grass runways, which opened in 1936.[5] The company first began trading here in 1961 and has remained within 1 km ever since.
Air Partner was awarded a four-year contract with the Department for International Development (DfID) to become its “sole provider of passenger and freight air charter services”,[6] and had been hired to be a charter broker to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Crisis Centre.[7]
2015: Air Partner acquires Cabot Aviation and Baines Simmons.[8]
Air Partner acquires SafeSkys.[9]
Air Partner acquires Redline.[10]
2020: Air Partner provides vital support throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, including transporting medical supplies and PPE[11] as well as evacuating over 300 British and EU nationals from Wuhan.[12]
2021 Acquisition of Kenyon International Emergency Services Inc.[13]
Between August 2021 and February 2022, the Austrian government awarded Air Partner six Frontex-funded deportation contracts, worth an estimated average of €33,796.[14]
2022 Air Partner Plc acquired by Wheels Up and delisted from the London Stock Exchange.[2]
In August 2022, Air Partner was awarded a €15 million framework contract to arrange charter deportations for the European Coast Guard and Border Agency, Frontex.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "Air Partner Annual Report 2021" (PDF). 6 January 2023.
- ^ a b "Wheels Up Officially Closes Acquisition of Air Partner plc". PR Newswire (Press release). Wheels Up. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- ^ "AirPartner predicts rise in demand if Gulf war begins". Flight International. 14 January 2003. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
The company's best chance now may be an anticipated rise in demand for private charters resulting from the outbreak of war in Iraq. "The Gulf War was a windfall for us. We'd hate to say 'yippee, we're going to war', but I guess the net effect would be positive," Mack says. The company carried 4,000t of military cargo in the run-up to Operation Desert Storm in 1990-91.
- ^ "JetCard". airpartner.com.
- ^ "Terminals: the last word". The Independent. 22 March 2008.
- ^ "Air Partner wins DFID contract". 11 October 2010.
- ^ https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmfaff/80/80.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Baines Simmons acquired by Air Partner plc". Baines Simmons. 19 August 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Air Partner acquires SafeSkys". www.airpartner.com.
- ^ "Air Partner plc acquires Redline Worldwide". Air Cargo News. 12 December 2019.
- ^ "Air Partner Operates Hundreds of Cargo Flights". www.airpartner.com.
- ^ "Air Partner evacuates UK nationals from Wuhan". www.londonstockexchange.com.
- ^ "London Stock Exchange | London Stock Exchange". www.londonstockexchange.com.
- ^ a b "Air Partner: The Home Office's little-known deportation fixer". 6 January 2023.