Aviation International News senior correspondent Ian Goold has been involved in aerospace since 1964 and in aviation media for more than 40 years. He enjoyed a 20-year career at Flight International magazine, where he was latterly air-transport editor before turning freelance in 1993. A winner of the European Regions Airline Association Hank McGonagle award for excellence in aerospace journalism and a Royal Aeronautical Society Aerospace Journalist of the Year global&nbsp;award, he has edited or contributed to aerospace and aviation magazines, special publications, and websites in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. Ian entered aerospace as an apprentice at the British Aircraft Corporation at Brooklands (Weybridge), where he worked on production and final assembly lines of the Vickers Super VC10, and BAC One-Eleven , and manufacture of Concorde major sub-assemblies. He subsequently graduated from the BAC Design Training School to work in the airframe structures drawing office (including design of international future projects, such as the Panavia Tornado multi-role combat aircraft) before joining Flight International in 1973. Apart from years of reading aircraft magazines and books, his first direct contact with aviation media had come during the early 1970s when he was involved at Brooklands with the Weybridge Man-powered Aircraft Group, which designed and built the tenth aircraft to fly under purely human power. As an aviation journalist, he has worked at more than&nbsp; 50 of the major biennial&nbsp;global and regional international aerospace industry shows at Le Bourget, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai (having missed attending only one "Farnborough" since 1960), plus innumerable NBAA, HAI, (U.S.) AOPA, and EBACE Conventions and ERA Assemblies. His favourite aircraft is the Hawker Hunter, of which – as a schoolboy – he heard hundreds make their first flights from Dunsfold, where also on September 24, 2013, he saw the penultimate landing of the VC10 (happily involving an example of which he had witnessed the maiden takeoff in 1970) a day before the last example made the design's final flight (unless, of course....).

Senior correspondent

Ian Goold

Harrods Aviation (Booth No. 4263) is here at the NBAA convention promoting its helicopter transfer service from London-area airports such as Biggin Hill, Farnborough, Luton and Stansted to the London Heliport at Battersea in the west of the city. The company believes the operation, which provides easy access to London’s West End, is virtually unknown among U.S. corporate travelers. When flying into Stansted or Luton airports, visitors can take advantage of the amenities at the Harrods FBOs.


The Air Harrods helicopter fleet, comprising a Sikorsky S-92, S-76C++ and S-76C+, as well as an Agusta A109S Grand and Agusta A109E, offers quick helicopter transit to London’s sole CAA-approved heliport. It also provides flights to the major international airports at Heathrow and Gatwick.


The helicopter operation has grown, evidenced by recruitment earlier this year of two pilots with a combined 17,000 hours of experience. The company has added rotorcraft maintenance services at Stansted as it handles a wider range of types. In fact, it has broadened its portfolio by taking on more maintenance work on the offshore fleet.


Harrods hopes to reflect the city’s recent success in managing the London 2012 Olympics by extending a “welcome back to London” message here at NBAA 2012. During the Olympics, the number of aircraft carrying heads of state was the main challenge for Harrods Aviation’s Stansted FBO. Along with its sister operation at Luton, Stansted saw considerably higher international traffic during the two weeks of the main events. Nevertheless, the company claims not to have overestimated the likely Olympics-related flight numbers, which were subject to strict coordination with allocated slots at many airfields around London.


Slots “were never a problem,” according to Harrods, and forecasts of expected movements and related demand for airport capacity were “good for planning,” as spokesman said, although the two FBOs were flooded with operators making late plans. The company believes that handling of Olympics-related aircraft was made easier by the availability of southern England airfields, of which it claims Luton and Stansted were the busiest.


In a continuing effort to improve efficiency, Harrods Aviation has invested in security equipment, fuel trucks and training at its Luton FBO. Using the fuel trucks enables faster delivery of fuel to customers, eliminating the need to wait for a third party, and also guarantees competitive prices. <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2008-08-05/harrods-terminal-opens-london-luton">The VIP lounge</a> there has been upgraded with new furniture to provide a comfortable, quiet place for customers to relax.


On the security front, UK requirements have driven the company to invest in explosives-detection equipment and staff training in its use and in baggage-search procedures. “Relying on a strong combination of in-house training and outsourced support, [we] aim to comply with regulations while keeping any inconvenience to customers, passengers orcrew to a minimum,” a spokesman said.

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