19 February 2019
Gama Aviation, one of the UK’s leading maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) companies is quitting its General Aviation work at Fairoaks Airport because uncertainty over the airport’s future has affected its business.
Scott McVicar, managing director, said, “Fairoaks Airport has been the subject of considerable interest to property developers who wish to turn the airport into a ‘Garden Village’.
“Although the proposed development has to date been rejected by the local council, the noise and uncertainties this creates have impacted our business in two fundamental ways:
“We have worked very hard behind the scenes to find a way forward, however there are no practical alternatives and it is with great sadness that we have taken the decision to discontinue all of our part 145 – General Aviation maintenance operations.
“We will fulfill current customer obligations by working through our backlog of committed work. We envisage that for fixed-wing this will be complete by the end of June and for rotary wing this will be by the end of August. With immediate effect we will not be taking on any new General Aviation work.
“This has been a very difficult decision for us to take as General Aviation has been a core part of our business for many years.
“We take great pride in the quality of the service we can provide to our customers and in turn career opportunities for our staff. Unfortunately, the situation at Fairoaks has become unsustainable and we have been left with no option but to discontinue this part of the business.
“We will continue to provide CAMO services to our customers and hangarage in the interim.”
Gama Aviation has a separate MRO base at nearby TAG Farnborough Airport for business aviation operations.
