St. Maarten: Umberto Vallino doesn’t want bizjet passengers lounging around By Alison Chambers.

Successful FBO activity is characterised by seamless passenger dispatch - to an awaiting aircraft or arriving car - as quickly as possible, business development and marketing manager for Cote d’Azur Nice and Cannes Airports Umberto Vallino shared last week.

The difference is quite simple, he explained. Public transport/scheduled airline is the equivalent of the bus and train, the one the passenger waits for. Business aviation is the limousine, private car or taxi - where the aircraft waits for its passengers. And they don’t have to turn up hours before departure. Thirty minutes or less is the norm.

“The airport is never the destination for passengers,” Umberto told CARIBAVIA delegates. Passengers use business jets for time management. They want to get to their hotel, office or yacht as soon as possible. We remove all the hassle to let them achieve that.”

Successful FBOs, he says, are built around crew needs. They are the ones who often have to spend days, hours at the base. They want good amenities, areas for rest and relaxation, TV, connectivity, fresh coffee. In turn they have a lot of influence on which FBO a charter company or aircraft owner decides to use, if there is competition. If the FBO is welcoming and looks after crew well this experience will be fed back to the operator or management company, said Umberto.

Proud if our FBOs are empty

“I was proud if our FBOs were empty because it meant we were doing a good job,” he says. But booking in aircraft to park/hangar - bringing in useful revenue, is welcome. He confesses to secretly missing all those former manual operational checks involved in aircraft dispatch - “a job I used to love,” he said. Everything is all done online now, which is progress, of course. Techology has transformed crew’s lives. They know exactly what the weather is like in advance of landing. The FBO talks with the tower so it can prepare a vehicle, etc for an awaiting jet, he added.

Maintaining a good dialogue with the authorities, ATC, is hugely important. They don’t always understand business aviation and understand how quickly an aircraft can be turned around (compared with a commercial airliner).

Cdr Bud Slabbaert highlighted the value of attending NBAA’s Schedulers and Dispatcher’s meetings. “It’s how I developed my business,” said Slabbaert, positioning his airport's (Switzerland's St Gallen-Altenrhein) exhibition stand right next to Farnborough Airport’s to maximise visitors. Engaging with pilots is important as they have such influence on determining FBOs. Meeting them at airports is also valuable.

Best traffic figures in Cannes

Despite the drop in bizAv traffic recorded in 2020 (-27%) in the French Riviera with the “menses horribilis” of April, May and June (-90, -82 and -45%) Cannes Airport the best July and August traffic recorded than ever (+14 and +20%). As restrictions loosened – pre pandemic, almost all the traffic from North America, Middle East and CIS was by Gulfstream, Bombardier, Falcon, BBJ, Airbus ACJ) we noted a switch to smaller light jets (Citation Mustang, Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24 and Phenom). The uncertainties of scheduled flights and their sudden cancellations brought more people to business aviation “When scheduled services cut back we saw more charter. Aircraft like the Mustang (at EU 2,500 per hour) is a very attractive proposition for business travellers and families, and GlobeAir, which operates 21 Mustangs, recorded a two figure % growth in 2020,” Umberto said.

He also pointed to the excellent service provided by Albenga Airport in Italy, which welcomes business aviation on the Riviera (for Italy and France).

Canne-Mandelieu Airport on the French Riviera

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 24th June 2021 | Issue #611