UK’s Air Capital Charter Uses King Air to stay on Top
From humble beginnings, European-based Air Capital Charter has grown to be the leading and longest running charter operator in southwest England. Over the years, the company has added other specialized services, along with three Super King Air 200s, which has made it the leader it is today.
Almost 25 years ago, Malcolm Humphries and his wife, Lisa, began operations at Exeter Airport in Devon with a single Cessna 421 Golden Eagle and, as Malcolm says, “I was the pilot, my wife was operations manager, sales and accounts. This was at the time that the mobile phone network was in its infancy, and we were able to run the company while on the move, and also raising a small child, using the kitchen table as the operations desk.” The original focus in their first few years was charter flights, with the fleet increasing by three Piper PA31 Navajo Chieftains.
Air Ambulance operations commenced for Air Capital in the late 1990s, with basic stretchers fitted in the Cessna. This was a less than ideal solution, Malcolm describing the fundamental problems, “I found that getting avgas in far flung international airports was very difficult, sometimes having to taxi to remote airport areas to plead with a non-English speaking flying club member to put 500 litres of fuel into my aircraft using a pump that was designed to put 20 litres into a Cessna 150, then having to pay cash whilst a patient was lying in the back of the aircraft on a stretcher in the searing heat before enduring a six-hour flight back to the UK.”
He realized that a turboprop aircraft was required if a more satisfactory service was to be provided and if the business was to expand. In 1998, Malcolm was offered the opportunity to purchase a “used King Air 200 which had seen the world several times over.” He now readily admits that this was the best decision he ever made and says that the aircraft became an instant hit with both executive customers and ambulance contractors.
It’s strongly agreed that Malcolm’s opinion carries some weight due to his extensive experience in general aviation. “I have always been involved in GA, never having been interested in the airline industry. I started flying in the mid-1970s, gaining my license following a few years of gliding. I became a full-time glider tug pilot, as well as a flight instructor, to gain hours and earned my commercial license in 1980,” he said.
Malcolm also worked for various air taxi companies, learning the trade before starting Air Capital Charter. As a type rating examiner and instructor in the King Air and the PA3, Malcolm is responsible for the training and assessment of Air Capital’s 10 full-time pilots. “I like to train and test my own pilots, so I can ensure the consistency and high standard of my flight crew.”
Becoming a Leader
Over the years, Air Capital has survived the turbulent European economic conditions with a continual program of improvement and sensible expansion based on an ethos of tight cost control and a commitment to service and safety excellence. This philosophy has seen the company become the longest established and leading charter operator in southwest England.
The company’s fleet now consists of the three Super King Air 200s and five PA31s. The PA31s are engaged exclusively on contract air ambulance operations to Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The King Air, G-WVIP, has been modified with Blackhawk -61 engines, Raisbeck streamlining modifications, BLR winglets and Frakes exhausts. It was acquired in December 2008 and was the first ever commercially registered Blackhawk B200 aircraft in Europe. It is faster, more fuel efficient, has a longer range and shorter take-off and landing capacity than the standard model, allowing it to be competitive with light corporate jets such as the Cessna Citation.
With its handsome leather-bound interior, the principal use is for executive and corporate travel. The company can also take care of their passengers’ entire journey including transfers, as well as hotel and restaurant bookings. Malcolm commented, “We were very proud to be the first commercial operator in Europe with this fabulous airplane. The King Air has always been a great aircraft, with the upgrades it is now the perfect European executive transport.”
An executive aviation handling facility was opened at Air Capital’s main base, Exeter Airport, in January 2011. Further validation of the level of service provided by the company came later in the same year with the award of ISO9001 status from the prestigious British Standards Institution.
The core medical business for Air Capital is the repatriation of UK residents who have had accidents or fallen ill abroad whilst on holiday, which can range from a requirement for an intensive care unit to a more simple broken bone. The two standard Super King Airs, G-KVIP (the original purchase in 1998 and still going strong) and G-ZVIP, carry out air ambulance operations throughout Europe and beyond, flying regularly as far as Tenerife in the Canary Islands, North Africa, Eastern Europe and the far reaches of Northern Europe. It is well known that the King Air is particularly good for this role due to the large entrance door and roomy cabin. Both have electric loading ramps and can be fitted with either single stretcher or two stretcher LifePort systems, the industry standard, which incorporate integral oxygen and power supply for monitors, ventilator, defibrillator, and suction and fluid pumps.
The company’s focus of the air ambulance business then was the coordination of pilots, aircraft and equipment, often partnering with hospitals and other third party providers of clinical staff. However, in 2012, Capital Air Ambulance was established within the existing company structure and Dr. Terry Martin, who is acknowledged as a world authority on air ambulance procedures, was appointed medical director to lead a specialist medical team. All medical staff are fully trained to be flight medical crew to the standard acknowledged by the UK’s National Health Service. In 2013, Capital Air Ambulance achieved full accreditation from Eurami, the European Medical Institute.
Recently Malcolm reflected on how this side of the business has changed over the years, “It is easy to have the aircraft and stretcher, but you need to have the medical side to your operation also. I used to think that running an Air Operator’s Certificate was difficult, but it is nothing compared to running a medical department and staying up to date with the latest medical equipment and procedures.” To which Martin added, “Capital Air Ambulance is the perfect company to develop the kind of service that is rarely available in the UK today; a robust, fast and flexible single point of contact that always looks to deliver the highest possible standards of patient care, balanced with high cost efficiency. I’m proud to be associated with a company with such a pedigree and reputation for excellence, and together we look forward to continuing to raise the bar for patient air transfers throughout our scope of operations.”
The service is very comprehensive and ensures that the patient, who may need life support or critical care, receives the best attention, not only from in-flight medical escorts on board the air ambulance, but also when being taken from the hospital to the airport and vice versa on departure and arrival. Capital’s experienced operations staff organize, coordinate and facilitate the entire repatriation process and also have in-house linguists covering a variety of languages, aiding communication at the location of the emergency and retrieving and translating documents, when necessary, to enable a complete understanding of the situation.
In the case of the patient being able to travel on a commercial airline with medical assistance, Capital Air Ambulance can help by arranging the flights, medical staff and any necessary medical equipment tailored to suit the patient’s needs, obtaining medical clearance with the airline, arranging oxygen in-flight where required, getting assistance at the airport, arranging transfers, hospital admission and follow-up doctors’ appointments. If flying home is not an option, the company can even arrange a road transfer from most European destinations.
Malcolm sums up the company’s philosophy, “Every air ambulance mission has its own memorable bits. When you fly to a far-off destination to transport someone who has been stuck in a local hospital for weeks, sometimes with no English speaking medical staff, we turn up with our flight medical crew, and the patient and family often break down into tears of relief. It can sometimes take as long as eight or nine hours of flying to bring these people home, and during that time we build a special relationship with them. We have had many letters of thanks from patients and families. Our whole team, whether in flight operations, flight crew, flight medical crew or medical operations, always ensures that the patient gets the best care possible; there can’t be any compromise on this.”
A third offering of services by Air Capital is the speedy transfer of urgent and secure cargo, either documents or freight. “These transports are just as important as our medical transports and we treat them the same way,” Malcolm says.
The King Air’s Role
As a fan of the King Air, Malcom says it has “presence” when parked on the ramp. “Unless you really know what to look for, you would never be able to tell how old the aircraft is; it could be 35 years old or three years old! The new winglets have really brought the aircraft into the 21st century,” he added.
As mentioned, the company’s main base is at Exeter International Airport on the southwest coast of England, with two sub-bases on Jersey in the Channel Islands and on the Isle of Man. Thirty-five full-time staff, including an engineering and continuing airworthiness manager, are mostly based at Exeter, with two flight crew members in Jersey and three on the Isle of Man. A roster of over 70 part-time medical staff are available on call.
All flight training on the King Air is completed in the aircraft. Malcolm notes, “I think that it is really important to ensure that the aircraft are looked after properly. We buy all of our own aircraft spares, but we contract the maintenance of the aircraft out to a locally based company called Iscavia, with whom we have a very close working relationship. The King Air has proved to be robust, reliable and reasonably effective to maintain with parts that are relatively easy to obtain.”
Garmin GTN750 units have been fitted into the King Airs recently and the company is currently going through the process of converting to the use of electronic flight bags to carry Jeppesen and operations manuals, etc. Slightly tongue in cheek, Malcolm adds, “At the moment, because our operating area is so large and the paperwork we have to carry is enormous, the pilot has to be extremely adept at climbing over the mountain of manuals to enter the cockpit!”
Since 2014, Capital Air Charter has been part of the Rigby Group, which under its British International Helicopters (BIH) brand already represents one of UK’s largest domestically owned commercial aviation and offshore helicopter services companies. There are plans to grow Capital’s market share extensively over the next few years and to develop both its aero medical services and its contracted charter capabilities.
The last word may be left to Capital’s Sales Director Lisa Humphries, “While this is undoubtedly a pivotal moment in our history, for our existing customers it will feel very much like business as usual. We will continue to deliver the high standards and approach to service that has made us the region’s number one charter operator, and will carry that ethos forward as our membership of the Rigby Group enables expansion across the operation.”
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