Private aviation company Fireblade Aviation has positioned each of its divisions to grow as international demand for aviation increased, particularly private aviation, over the past three to four years.

“We are seeing an upward trend in international travellers, including from Asia and the Middle East, in addition to growth in travellers from the US and Europe,” Fireblade Aviation MD Leigh Kretzschmar said during a tour of its OR Tambo International Airport-based facilities on July 2.

The company has also seen a growing trend of international trip planning companies using its services and facilities for their international travellers.

“Private aviation has mushroomed over the past three to four years, and we are at the point where demand is outstripping supply. This creates its own challenges, but plenty of opportunities for each of our aircraft owner services and air operator certificate (AOC), fixed-base operator (FBO), and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) divisions.”

The company was initially set up as a flight department for international mining company Anglo American 70 years ago, and rebranded as Fireblade Aviation in 2014, serving business and leisure travellers, aircraft owners and operators and tour operators.

“We mainly provided our founders and two to three key customers with world-class service. But there is such demand in the market that we can turn into a sustainable business and can provide our same high-quality services and standards to others. Thereby, we hope to grow the Fireblade legacy,” she said.

It has spent the past three years laying the foundations for the company to become a sustainable private aviation business. Its sustainability is based on four core concepts, namely commercial, conservation, culture and community.

“These encapsulate our way of working with our clients and with our suppliers and service providers. For example, we are tackling sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on two fronts, namely how we can source SAF and reduce the carbon footprint associated with procuring it.

“We are working with our suppliers to understand how we can source SAF in South Africa and we are working with our customers to get them to understand and drive demand for SAF,” Kretzschmar said.

The industry is still a long way from effective SAF, but Fireblade Aviation is working with suppliers to understand the demand for SAF, she added.

“Much like the small pool of people in the industry, we are deeply committed to aviation and the ecosystem surrounding it. However, sustainability in our industry is not only about conservation but about all aspects of aviation, including bringing more people, diversity and skills into the industry.

“Driving positive change in our industry starts with expanding our ecosystem. This requires prioritising sustainability, inclusivity and diversity, and driving awareness about possible careers in aviation among our youth, and particularly among young girls.”

Further, the growth in international private aviation has meant that aircraft are flying more hours and need more maintenance. Fireblade’s MRO division has seen the effect of, and benefited from, this trend, she noted.

“The reputation we have built up with our maintenance and engineering competencies is one of the main drivers of growth in MRO. We aim to provide customers with maintenance integrity and transparency. We are particularly excited about this offering,” she said.

Aircraft parts, however, remain a challenge to source, and this is adding to the cost of maintenance globally, she added.

On the FBO side, Fireblade aims to open another fixed base in Southern Africa but has not yet decided where. It has identified sufficient demand for another base but has not yet settled on where it would establish one that would best suit its customers’ needs, said Kretzschmar.

Its AOC division has also, similarly, seen growth from the increasing demand for private aviation and aircraft internationally.

“We are a one-stop shop for private aviation and are intent on building a sustainable future. International demand for aviation resources is taking our people abroad and we need to inspire a broader range of people to address skills shortages and create a more inclusive and diverse workforce, which will be good for business and the industry,” Kretzschmar said during the tour.