Avia Solutions Group has become the second-largest Irish-registered aviation business behind Ryanair after moving its headquarters to Dublin.
The Lithuanian leasing, crew, maintenance and insurance provider, said the move was “strategically important” for the business in terms of its development plans.
The new headquarters in Central Park, Leopardstown, is expected to have up to 50 specialists from various fields working at the location.
The business operates a fleet of 173 aircraft and provides aviation services such as passenger and cargo aircraft wet leasing, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul), ground handling, recruitment services, and pilot and crew training.
Clients include the likes of Ryanair, Turkish Airlines, Norwegian, Lufthansa, TUI, SAS, Wizzair and others. The Avia Solutions Group carries around six million passengers annually and operates in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Avia Solutions Group is the parent company of airlines SmartLynx Airlines, Avion Express, Klasjet, and Magma Aviation. It operates across all continents, and has a workforce of more than 11,000 aviation specialists located in more than 100 offices worldwide.
Jonas Janukenas, chief executive of Avia Solutions Group, said: “Moving the company’s controlling headquarters to Ireland is a strategically important step for us in terms of our further development plans.
“Ireland is known as a global aviation hub. A large number of aviation companies are located here, hence, being closer to the aviation community we will be able to implement the group’s development plans faster and maintain market leadership.
“The Group had previously financed expansion on the Dublin Stock Exchange with a $300 bonds issue in 2019, that were purchased by the world’s laArgest institutional investors from the USA and Europe, and this was also one of the reasons for choosing Ireland.”
In 2021, Avia also received a €300 million investment from Certares, a US-based investment management company, focusing on travel, tourism and hospitality sectors.
Janukenas added: “Ireland is at the centre of this growth, having developed a world-renowned expertise in global aviation finance, was the first European country to ratify the Cape Town Convention in 2005, has 14 of the world’s top 15 lessors based here, with approximately 50% of the world’s leased aircraft managed or leased from Ireland.”
The latest issued financial results for Avia Solutions Group for the financial year ending December 31, showed that their financial results for 2022 doubled: revenue increased to €1.9 billion, EBITDA at €288 million, and adjusted profit totalling €85 million.
In 2022, 96% of Avia Solutions Group’s revenue was generated by operations in Western Europe (81%), Asia (10%), and North America (5%).
