The Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, has announced it has acquired what it termed "a significant minority stake" in German executive jet specialist, Axtmann Aviation Holding (AAH).
Nuremberg-based AAH operates the FAI Aviation Group (FAI) whose subsidiaries FAI Rent-A-Jet (IFA, Nuremberg) and FlyAlpha (Nuremberg) specialize in fixed-wing air ambulance, special missions, charter and aircraft management, as well as full MRO services.
“This investment is aligned with our objective to invest in companies with strong track records of growth and experienced management teams," Mahmood H. Alkooheji, the CEO of the Bahraini sovereign wealth fund, said in a statement. "Aviation is a key component of our portfolio and we aim to leverage our sector knowledge and expertise to add value to the company and support its potential expansion into the wider GCC region.”
For his part, FAI’s chairman, Siegfried Axtmann, welcomed Mumtalakat's accession to AAH's shareholding.
“We are pleased that our specialised expertise in aviation services is globally recognised and delighted about the opportunity to cooperate with a powerful partner such as Mumtalakat. Together we will expand FAI as the leading player in the sector and increase our share in the General Aviation Market in the Middle East, adding value to the corporate and humanitarian sectors alike. Safety, efficient delivery and environmental protection are at the heart of our business,” he said.
FAI´s fleet of consists of twenty-three aircraft including three Bombardier Global Express, six Bombardier Challenger 604s, eleven Learjet 60s and two Learjet 55s, one Premier IA, and one Beech (twin turboprop) King Air 350. It employs a full-time staff of 190 people, including sixty mechanics and engineers at FAI´s in-house MRO plus some fifty part-time physicians and paramedics. FAI operates satellite offices in Dubai and Miami as well as line stations in Bamako and Dakar Yoff-Léopold Sédar Senghor International.
