FAQs

Where is Air Partner stock traded?

Air Partner is fully-listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “AIR”.

What is Air Partner’s fiscal year?

Air Partner’s year end is 31 January.

What is Air Partner’s recent share price performance?

The recent share price performance can be viewed here.

Where can I get a copy of the Annual Report?

A copy of the Annual Report is available here on the company’s website. Copies of the annual report will be sent to shareholders each year following the annual results.

How can I contact Air Partner’s Investor Relations?

You can email investors@airpartner.com 

How do I inform Air Partner of a change in address or other personal details?

If you are a registered shareholder (holding stock certificate), you should direct all communications regarding changes in registration or address, lost certificates, current holdings, or any other shareholder registration matters to the transfer agent: 

Link Asset Services
Shareholder enquiries
Telephone: 0871 664 0300
Lines are open Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5.30pm
E-mail: enquiries@linkgroup.co.uk

 

If you are a beneficial shareholder (shares are held in a brokerage account), you should direct all account inquiries to your stockbroker.

When did Air Partner go public?

1989: Air Partner flotation on the Unlisted Securities Market, the forerunner of AIM

1995: Full market listing on the London Stock Exchange

What sector is Air Partner listed in? And what indices is it part of?

Air Partner is listed on the London Stock Exchange, in the FTSE sector Travel and Leisure, in the Airlines sub-sector.  Air Partner is in the FTSE Fledgling index.

How long have management been at Air Partner / in the sector?

The management team at Air Partner is highly experienced in its sector. Mark Briffa, CEO, has been in aviation for more than 30 years. Moreover, the non-executive directors have significant aviation experience. The biographies of the Board and senior management are available in the Annual Report, which can be found here on the company website.

How do you attract and retain talent?

The Group’s total remuneration packages are designed to be competitive in order to attract, retain and motivate high quality individuals throughout the business. Our packages aim to recruit talented executives and senior managers capable of effectively delivering on the Group’s strategy and driving business outcomes through their teams, thereby enhancing long term shareholder value. The full remuneration policy and rewards is set out in the Annual Report, which is available here on the company website.

Who are the main shareholders?

The majority of Air Partner’s shares are held by UK institutional asset management firms on behalf of their clients. The company also has a number of private client shareholders. Details on our major shareholders can be found in the Annual Report, which is available here on the company website.

Why are you listed?

Being a plc works well for Air Partner – it supports our financial strength, provides access to capital, ensures governance and transparency, and helps us attract and retain talent. Many of our customers see it as another differentiator from our competitors and welcome it.

Who are your main competitors and how do you compare to them by size?

We are a unique business, providing a range of aviation services across multiple sectors and geographies. Accordingly, comparisons are difficult, as are generalisations, as different divisions will tend to compete with different companies'. That said, we are the largest listed charter broker and compete with some many other charter brokers – the Worldwide Association of Air Charter Professionals website provides a list of other air charter brokers.

What's the size of the market?  What percentage do you have? How much can that grow to?

The aviation charter market is highly fragmented and verifiable data on the size of the market is not readily available. Air Partner’s own analysis estimates that the company, which is the largest publically listed air charter broker, has approximately 1% of the global market – so there is plenty of room for growth. 

Do you own aircraft?

No, Air Partner does not own any aircraft; we have an approved list of aircraft that we charter on behalf of our clients, ensuring that the best and most appropriate aircraft is used for any particular mission our clients are embarking on. Air Partner’s approved list is continually screened, assessed and benchmarked to ensure every aircraft meets all our stringent tests, as well as all third party requirements and independent assessments.

Who are your largest clients?

We are very careful about client confidentiality and do not disclose client details, however, some of our clients have approved or publically recognise Air Partner’s role, such as six of the G8 Group of governments. Some of the world’s largest businesses also regularly use our services across the aviation, energy, investment, automotive and travel sectors, as well as many smaller firms seeking to maximise management time, and high net worth individuals seeking the privacy and flexibility of private aviation. Air Partner is passionate about service and we seek to provide all our clients with outstanding customer service, regardless of size or status.

How much repeat business do you get from clients?

While much of our business is one-off by nature and has low visibility, our Customer First programme is driving customer loyalty and improved retention. Air Partner actively seeks to grow the forward visibility of its earnings, as testified by the development and growth of its Consulting & Training division.

What are your peak and trough periods?  

Our busiest months within Broking tend to be over the summer, with winter being quieter, although this trend can be affected by significant one-off projects and events such as natural disasters, which can distort normal seasonality. In Consulting & Training, revenues can be more consistent over the year. Air Partner is actively seeking to improve the visibility of its earnings through diversification, as demonstrated by the recent growth in the Consulting & Training division.

Where does Air Partner operate?

Air Partner has a combination of offices and sales presence in almost 20 countries spanning Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.

How does the business break down by geography and product?

For the financial year ended 31 January 2018, the UK accounted for 53% of gross profit, Europe 27%, the US 17% and ROW 3%. On a divisional level, the Commercial Jet division is the largest, accounting for 49% of gross profit, with Private Jets 29%, Freight 9% and Consulting & Training 13%.

What are Air Partner’s main divisions?

Air Partner has two divisions‎: Broking, comprising air charter broking and remarketing; and the Consulting & Training division, comprising the aviation safety consultancies, Baines Simmons, Clockwork Research and SafeSkys, as well as Air Partner’s Emergency Planning Division. For reporting purposes, the Group is structured into four divisions: Commercial Jets, Private Jets, Freight (Broking) and Consulting & Training (Baines Simmons, Clockwork Research, SafeSkys and Air Partner’s Emergency Planning Division).

Broking

Commercial Jets: Charters airliners from 20 to 500 people. Typically used for product launches, sports teams and conferences. Typical clients include: automotive, entertainment, pharmaceuticals and governments.

The Commercial Jets division also includes:

Tour Ops: Air Partner works with tour operators of all sizes to help boost capacity during peak times or provide capacity for the duration of their programmes.

Travel: Air Partner organises scheduled flight bookings for individual and group travel. This bespoke service is designed to provide clients with the most efficient and cost-effective solutions for their travel requirements, such as transfers, car hire and hotel bookings, for either individuals, groups or whole organisations.

Remarketing Services: Air Partner Remarketing acts as an agent and broker to airlines and other aircraft owners, such as banks, operating lessors, manufacturers, insolvency practitioners and high net worth individuals to find solutions to their fleet requirements either by arranging a sale, a purchase or a lease of aircraft.

Private Jets: Flies less than 20 people. Offers a bespoke service or a JetCard product, which is a prepaid card entitling access to private jet use. Typical clients include: Finance houses, film and entertainment, corporates, governments and high net worth individuals.

Freight: Charters aircraft from Learjets to the giant Antonov 225 for bespoke movement of cargo. Air Partner’s Time Critical product provides a door to door time-definite service. Typical clients include: Government, automotive, engineering and energy.

Emergency Planning: Air Partner plans, manages and executes air evacuations worldwide for governments, corporates and energy companies.

Consulting & Training:

Offers consulting, training and managed services within aviation safety. The division comprises:

Baines Simmons - a world leader in aviation safety consulting specialising in aviation regulation, compliance and safety management.

Clockwork Research - a leading fatigue risk management consultancy.

SafeSkys - a leading Environmental and Air Traffic Control services provider to UK and International airports.

How does pricing compare against ownership and other forms of aviation?

Air Partner believes that the charter of aviation services is the most efficient, flexible and best value way to access private aviation.  Air Partner’s clients are able to enjoy all the benefits and advantages of private aviation without the capital expenditure, fleet constraints or poor utilisation associated with ownership or fractional schemes; simply put – it’s smarter to charter.

How much can you control costs?

Air Partner consistently monitors and seeks to optimise its cost base. The Group’s largest cost is personnel and by focusing on strategic recruitment, training, use of information technology and the management of talent we are able to optimise and seek efficiencies across our team.

How much does the oil price impact you?

We keep a careful eye on the oil price, but given the inherent cost of private aviation, and the must-go or urgent nature of much of our clients' flying, the oil price does not necessarily or typically affect a client’s decision to use Air Partner.

How do you deal with forex risk / do you hedge?

The Group considers using derivatives where appropriate to hedge its exposure to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. The purpose is to manage the currency risks arising from the Group’s operations. It is the Group’s policy that no trading in financial instruements will be undertaken. 

What are the key risks to the business?

Air Partner sets out the key risks to its business in the Annual Report – which is available here on the company’s website.

What is your CSR policy?

Although we do not operate aircraft directly, we work with our clients, our suppliers and our service partners to monitor and review the impact of our operations. Many clients are conscious of, and would like to reduce, the environmental impact of their flights and we are happy to recommend aircraft which have a lower fuel burn profile, although this is not always available (particularly for large freight flights). We can calculate automatically the carbon footprint of every flight and can provide clients with the data they need to make realistic decisions about both costs and emissions. We also include optional carbon offset costs as standard in our proposals. The number of tonnes offset can only be decided upon by our clients. The amount of carbon offset has shown a significant increase over the last three years but this remains a very small proportion in terms of the number of flights undertaken each year. Air Partner also offers a Carbon Neutral JetCard for frequent fliers.

What is the dividend policy?

Air Partner has a progressive dividend policy and targets cover of between 1.5 and 2.0 times underlying earnings per share.

What are Air Partner’s key performance (KPIs) indicators?

The KPIs are set out in the Annual Report, which is available here on the company website. Recent KPIs include: revenue, gross profit, underlying PBT, net cash, staff voluntary churn, underlying basic EPS, EPS, dividend per share, ROE and TSR.