Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

Just prior to the opening of this year’s MEBAA show, Deer Jet concluded its acquisition of the majority of shares of flight support provider UAS International Trip Support. Deer Jet is a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s HNA Group, and it operates and manages 90 aircraft, including the Dream Jet, the world’s only Boeing 787 in VIP configuration. The acquisition makes UAS the flight support partner for those 90 aircraft, and it will also be able to serve HNA Group’s 21 airlines. One result of the share acquisition is that UAS will provide flight support services for delivering new aircraft for HNA airlines, which will involve about 150 aircraft in the next few years.

 


UAS (Stand 563) has continental headquarters in Houston, Texas; Johannesburg, South Africa; Hong Kong; and Dubai, plus regional offices in Africa, China and India and ground presence at 23 locations globally.

 


UAS Group co-owners and founders Mohammed Husary, executive president, and Omar Hosari, CEO, will continue as executive management of the company. “We’re delighted that this partnership is now ratified,” said Husary. “It is the result of a long period of discussion and negotiation between our two companies.” Negotiations had been underway for 18 months to two years, he said, and were a result of Deer Jet’s being a UAS customer. “We used to provide services for them, and they realized that UAS was a leading company in the flight support industry. They’re always looking to acquire full shares or a majority of share in aviation companies, so they approached us for a partnership proposal.”

 


Although Husary can’t reveal how many shares of UAS Deer Jet now owns, the existing shareowners still own shares of UAS. The purchase by Deer Jet will help UAS grow, he added. “That was the motivation for UAS to enter this partnership. We had a long-term strategy and business plan for 2020, and this partnership basically accelerates achieving the goals of this plan. Business is going to grow, and there is a lot of synergy that we’re going to extract from the group. We’ve already started hiring and increasing operations around the world, especially in China.” Husary expects UAS’s Beijing office to become as large as its Dubai and Houston offices, although Houston itself is growing as well. The company’s New Delhi operations center may also see some growth as business aviation expands in India.

 


“I’m very optimistic for the MEBAA show,” said Husary. “Growth in business aviation flights is better here than other regions, and we see visitors to MEBAA coming from Asia more than what we see at the [European] EBACE and [U.S.] NBAA shows.”

 


“From an operational viewpoint,” added Hosari, “we’ve ironed out the finer points and are currently finalizing our mid- to long-term business plan. Our clients can now expect a broadened range of services delivered to the same levels of efficiency, quality and operational excellence they have come to expect from us.”

 


Deer Jet chairman and president Zhang Peng said, “After founding Hong Kong Jet and acquiring shares of Asia Jet, Hawker Pacific and UAS, Deer Jet will continue to expand its global range through strategic partnerships with the best companies in the world of business aviation.” Deer Jet’s fleet serves 820 airports in 180 countries and territories. The company was founded in 1995 and was the first business jet operator in China.

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