With the possibility of changing travel restrictions in the second half of the year, the introduction of vaccine passports and the low touchpoint/transmission customer journey that business aviation charter offers over airline travel, Gama Aviation is poised to grow its on-fleet and direct charter business with the appointment of some leading names in the charter business.

Under the leadership of Adam Neaves, head of charter, the new team will comprise Wendy Murphy, Emma Suddaby-Brown and Jo Jurd based in Farnborough, and Ghada Fawzi based in Dubai.

Murphy and Suddaby-Brown ran Direct Air Charters, their own boutique charter brokerage for over 17 years, specialising in delivering complex charter tours and multi-destination trips in the entertainment, sports and bespoke travel sectors. Their wealth of experience adds advantage to Gama's capabilities in providing aircraft charter solutions, improving its market offering. They will provide customised, direct charter solutions across its client network, benefiting from exposure to Gama's in-fleet charter aircraft and in-house 24/7 wider trip support capabilities.

Jurd joins Gama at its global headquarters in Farnborough and Fawzi joins at its FBO in Sharjah, UAE. Both are highly experienced operators that bring further expertise to the department and are targeted with increasing charter utilisation of its fleet, growing its broker/intermediary relationships and overall re-establishing the company in the aircraft charter marketplace.

The new team is complemented by new additions to the charter fleet including a Challenger 650 based in Jersey, and two transient Globals – an Express and 5000 – on the group's new Cayman AOC. During the pandemic the business has also seen a rise in medical repatriation work that combines the experience of the charter team with the clinical expertise of Gama Aviation's special mission medical team.

Combined, the charter team provides comprehensive solutions for bed-to-bed transfers integrating road ambulance with air ambulance, with medical coverage being provided by a single Eurami, CQC endorsed clinical team.

Neaves comments: “I have known both Wendy and Emma for many years, and the opportunity to bring them into the Gama Aviation family was one we could not pass up. Their expertise and reputation within the direct charter market is unsurpassed, and we are fortunate to have them on board. I believe they will be a great asset to our charter teams. I know they will produce great results as we all move out of these restricted times.”

Murphy and Suddaby-Brown add: “We are excited to be working within and alongside the charter department at Gama Aviation, embracing the challenges for our next chapter. We appreciate this will improve the service we can offer with back up from a 24/7 operations team and the existing in-house charter department. Having known and worked alongside Gama Aviation for over 30 years, we know that the company shares our passion and values, and we look forward to being a part of the Gama Aviation family.”