Do you want to fly your flag? Businesses and even countries can now establish a proper national airline with minimal risk, by taking advantage of Cardiff Aviation’s unique ‘airline in a box’ model, blending aircraft leasing, maintenance, staff training and facilities.
The vision for what is a revolutionary business model was born of the ability to think creatively. To challenge the norm and break the rules. To have a vision and be passionate about ideas, with the tenacity to bring them into fruition profitably.
Chairman of Cardiff Aviation, Bruce Dickinson certainly knows about all of the above. In his music career as both singer and song writer for one of the world’s favourite heavy metal bands, Iron Maiden, his creativity and passion has been blindingly obvious, helping the band win a loyal fan base that stretches across the world and packs out the biggest venues to this day.
It’s this same drive and ambition that Bruce brought to his other great interest – aviation. Initially his passion was for flying and he trained as a commercial pilot. This grew into a vision for providing an aircraft MRO and pilot training facility, which evolved into the company Cardiff Aviation in 2012.
After a successful launch and period of growth, Cardiff Aviation took the step towards a new venture to develop a unique approach to aviation with their “airline in a box” concept.
Bruce said: “If you are looking to establish an airline, we will do all of the procurement, technical execution and administration on your behalf. We can give you a one-stop ‘airline in a box’ – all you need to do is sell the tickets, and we’ll do the rest.”
The rest includes sourcing aircraft, training, maintenance and regulatory support for the operator, as well as amending services required as market conditions change. This delivers everything airline providers need in order to offer a fully-fledged European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)-class airline without the risks and costs associated with traditional operations.
Bruce went on to say: “Airline-in-a-box is exactly what it sounds like – we carry out everything you need to establish operations to create an airline accredited under EASA safety standards, and all you have to do is pick the name and sell the tickets. It’s really that simple. We’re giving people the opportunity to set up an airline at low cost and low-risk, but also giving them the pathway to develop further down the line.”
This new concept has already been shown to work particularly well for countries who want to set up a world-class airline with European standards, but who lack the infrastructure or local expertise to do so as was seen in the seen in the relaunch of Air Djibouti in 2015. Cardiff Aviation provide crew, maintenance and training for local pilots and staff, as well as sourcing aircraft for Air Djibouti that will fly on Cardiff Aviation’s EASA Air Operators Certificate (AOC).
Bruce explained: “Crucially, we’ve developed an approach which allows sustainable business. On standard ‘Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance ,Insurance’ (ACMI) leasng, if you have a couple of months of low business, you lose your deposit. We don’t do that. We offer a more flexible approach to ACMI and we’ll also source aircraft that the customer owns but they fly on our AOC so all compliance, safety and oversight requirements are taken care of.
What we’re trying to do is ensure that those who want to set up their own airline don’t end up having to lose their initial investment and then have to spend even more just to keep the lights on. Cardiff Aviation’s airline-in-a-box is all about being honest, managing expectations and delivering EASA-class airline services – without the financial black hole in which many new airlines who’ve set up on their own find themselves.”
With these successes behind him, Bruce shows no signs of slowing down or putting his feet up and retiring. And with the entrepreneurial spirit still burning within him, we can only wait to see where it takes him next.
To hear Bruce talk about his entrepreneurial adventures and life as a member of Iron Maiden, he can be booked to speak at conferences and events. Please contact Dave Daniel at CSA. Call +44 (0) 1628 601411 or Email: dave@speakers.co.uk.
