LEA CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY AS PART OF LUXAVIATION JOURNEY

London Executive Aviation (LEA), the UK’s largest business aviation charter operator, is this month celebrating 20 years in business and looking forward to the next stage of its journey as Luxaviation UK, the name change being completed in the coming weeks.

Founded in 1996 with a post-war hut in Stapleford, UK and a two-aircraft air taxi service to ferry jockeys between races, founders Patrick Margetson-Rushmore, chief executive, and George Galanopoulos, managing director, have built LEA to become one of Europe’s largest business aircraft charter operators. In 2014, LEA joined the Luxaviation Group, the second largest operator of corporate aircraft in the world.

Patrick Margetson-Rushmore, chief executive, LEA says: “We couldn’t be prouder of this milestone anniversary and all that we have achieved as a company. Our consolidation with the Luxaviation Group has allowed us to have access to the Group’s 250 aircraft, 23 FBO facilities and an employee base of 1,500 worldwide. The next stage of LEA’s journey, as we change our name to Luxaviation UK, will help us benefit from the Group’s global portfolio and help us to strengthen the UK’s business aviation industry by bringing economies of scale to the market.”

George Galanopoulos, managing director, LEA says: “All of the LEA staff, from our operations, maintenance and finance teams to our commercial, marketing and cabin crew employees have an absolute commitment to unrivalled customer service, the building block for the success of LEA over the last twenty years. Our industry knowledge and expertise complements the vast experience of the operators within the Luxaviation Group, and we will see our customers benefiting from the combined synergies as together we enhance best practice across all areas of the business.”

LEA was the first executive air charter firm to obtain European Joint Aviation Authority certification and, in 2001, was the first to introduce the world’s most popular business jet, the Cessna Citation Excel, to the UK charter market. In 2015, LEA was named ‘Best General Aviation Operator’ in the prestigious Baltic Air Charter Association (BACA) Excellence Awards for the fourth time in a row and the sixth time in nine years.

Today, LEA operates a large and diverse fleet of 24 light, midsize and large-cabin aircraft. In March 2016, LEA strengthened its position as the UK’s largest operator of Embraer Legacy aircraft with the addition of a new Legacy 600 and a Legacy 650.