Charles Alcock is managing editor of the AIN Media Group, having rejoined the company in 2019. He has been an aviation journalist since 1986, and previously worked for AIN from 1990 to 2017, most recently as editor-in-chief. His main focus is on covering new aviation technology and business models, as well as international news.
Having been raised in the London area, Alcock studied at the University of Manchester in the UK and earned an honors degree in Politics and Modern History. He speaks English and French, and some German.

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

Business aviation appears to have avoided the worst of the disruption caused by power cuts across Spain and Portugal on Monday. With airline services slowly recovering from the displacement of aircraft and flight crews, FBOs in both countries reported mixed fortunes in terms of dealing with the emergency.
According to traffic data from industry analyst WingX, the number of business jet departures from Spanish airports on April 28 was 24% less than on the previous five Mondays at 104. By contrast, departures from Portuguese airports on the worst day of the power cuts was 3% above the average over the same period at 26.
In Spain, Christine Sastre, who manages ExecuJet’s FBOs in Barcelona, Gerona, Valencia, and Ibiza, told AIN that operations had not been impacted by the loss of power. Similarly, Universal Aviation Spain said operations had continued at its Madrid base for 11 hours using generator power.
However, across the border in Portugal, ExecuJet’s FBOs in Porto, Lisbon, Cascais, and Faro did experience disrupted operations, with service stabilizing by the end of Tuesday. “The impact ranged from flight delays and diversions to communication blackouts and service interruptions,” Marisa Andrade, the Luxaviation group subsidiary’s local manager, commented. “Across all locations, our teams acted swiftly and did their utmost to support customers and manage the situation under difficult conditions.”
Universal Aviation said its office in Portugal had power restored by late Tuesday. At that point, power in its Madrid base had also been restored.
The power cuts, which have still not been fully explained, revealed how exposed transportation and other infrastructure can be to unforeseen outages. Hotels and other businesses struggled to serve customers, and trains stopped running, preventing many aircraft passengers and airport employees from getting to work.
For the most part, air traffic management services were maintained using emergency power. However, flights were disrupted because airport services could not function normally, with aircraft operators and their support companies also struggling to maintain communications.
In May 2024, ExecuJet's parent company Luxaviation acquired the Sky Valet FBO chain with 17 bases in Spain and Portugal. The deal with&nbsp;Aéroports de la Côte d'Azur expanded the ExecuJet FBO network to 40 locations worldwide.
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