Pilatus has agreed to acquire Air Alliance GmbH, its authorized sales and service center for Germany and Austria, bringing the Siegerland-based company’s sales, maintenance, flight training and aircraft management operations in-house.
Air Alliance was founded in 1993 and employs approximately 120 people, all of whom will be retained. Managing director Rene Petersen will continue as CEO under the new ownership. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals including from the German Federal Aviation Authority.
Air Alliance has been an authorized Pilatus Sales & Service Center since 2014, overseeing sales and technical support for the PC-12 and PC-24 in Germany and Austria. The company also operates a flight training school and holds an air operator’s certificate (AOC) for commercial flights with both aircraft types.
Unicair GmbH, Air Alliance’s subsidiary that provides global air ambulance services, is not part of the acquisition and will remain independent.
“Europe, particularly Germany and Austria, is a very important market for Pilatus, and offers potential for further growth,” said Hansueli Loosli, chairman of the Pilatus board of directors. “This acquisition gives us the opportunity to leverage synergies and move even closer to our customers with the Pilatus brand and our own services.”
Petersen said: “Pilatus will allow us to embark on further growth in our markets and areas of strength, something which we could not have achieved at the planned pace without a partner as strong as Pilatus.”
The acquisition builds on a long-standing partnership between the two companies and forms part of Pilatus’s strategy to expand its direct market presence and service offering in Europe.
