Oh show
Event activity was high during the last four months of 2007 with Harrods Aviation teams in action at the NBAA Convention and Exhibition, Helitech, NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference and with our Honeywell TFE731 Operators Workshop.

A fantastic hall position set us up for a busy NBAA Convention in Atlanta. The convention really does provide the perfect platform to do business and, as is always the case, we were delighted to meet so many new potential customers alongside the familiar, friendly faces of existing clients.

Through the show we were pleased to be able to treat our customers to the very English favourite of a cream tea every afternoon on our stand. We hope to be able to offer this every year due to its popularity but it is dependent upon the flexibility of the venue, so ‘watch this space’ as they say.

Helitech fell the week after the NBAA Convention so tested our show endurance! The combined Harrods Aviation and Air Harrods team pulled together and our chalet opened for business looking extremely smart; boasting a private meeting room with glass frontage and the largest aircraft on static display, the Air Harrods-managed Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, right outside the front windows. The S-92 proved a great talking point over afternoon refreshments and without a doubt confirmed Air Harrods as a premier helicopter management force. The Air Harrods S-76C+ conducted some demonstration flights in between charters which are always beneficial for brokers not familiar with our VIP aircraft.

Later in October we invited Honeywell TFE731 Operators to attend our bi-annual workshop held on behalf of the OEM in our capacity as a STAAR-rated, major service centre. We held the workshop in the familiar surroundings of the Elvetham Hotel in Hampshire and were pleased to have some support from our friends at Volvo Aero. The workshop comprised talks from Harrods Aviation, Volvo Aero and Jet-Care plus from Honeywell, technical and avionics briefings and a pilot advisory. It’s hungry work participating in such a comprehensive workshop so, in recognition of this, we invited everyone to stay on in the evening for a barbeque. Unfortunately the English weather let us down but a little cold and wet did not dampen the spirits and a good time was had by all.

And finally, we attended the NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers conference in Savannah where our two representatives met many personnel from all areas of our industry. We took enquiries from a number of companies not yet operating into Europe or the UK who were wanting to find out about our facilities. We were able to impress with the range of services offered at both bases and look forward to seeing some of these operators at our facilities soon.

For 2008 the show diary looks a lot less cramped. We are exhibiting at EBACE in May and at the NBAA Convention in October in Orlando. We also hope to have representation on foot at both the CBAA Convention, Toronto and JetExpo in Russia.