The Veling Group is looking for partners to run MRO operations at its private aviation terminal in Mauritius.

This follows the recent launch of a brand new state-of-the-art 2,200-sq-m hangar at its 12-month-old terminal at SSR International Airport in the capital Port Louis. 

Representing an investment of $3 million, the facility built by UK-based ReidSteel Group comprises 1,800 sq m of hangar space and 400 sq m for offices and storage.  It was inaugurated in the presence of the country’s Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth and Tourism Minister Xavier-Luc Duval.

The MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) and aircraft parking facility is capable of housing four Dassault Falcon 900 jets or two Bombardier Global Express aircraft, side by side.  

It has been built adjacent to Veling’s terminal at the airport which opened exactly a year ago, complete with its Yu brand relaxation Lounge and refreshing plunge pool.  The FBO handled around 300 arriving aircraft in 2014.

Uday Nayak, co-founder and Chairman, was at last onth’s European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (Ebace) in Geneva, Switzerland, seeking partners who may be interested in running the MRO.

Uday and his team are also pioneering a new financing model for the business aviation sector – the operating lease, which is being offered via Veling’s sister company, Veling Tayara.  

The new company is headed by former senior Embraer executives Managing Director Colin Steven, based out of Dubai, UAE, and Non Executive Chairman Ernie Edwards.  

There is widespread opinion in the industry now that more aircraft owners, particularly in the new and pre-owned large cabin sector, will transition into operating leases as this model becomes a more mature way of financing a depreciating asset, says Uday, considering the changing economic climate and the need to keep a healthy cash flow in the business.  

Veling Tayara’s proposition is to encourage high net worth individuals (HNWIs) and corporations to lease their aircraft, rather than buy.  

“Why lock yourself into a $50 million investment when an aircraft can be leased?  A lease won’t appear on the balance sheet, for everyone to see, and it gives the owner far greater flexibility to change or upgrade the jet three or five years later, just as the majority of the world’s airlines do,” he says. 

“Owners of new and pre-owned large cabin aircraft - Veling Tayara is specialising in aircraft of US$20 million and up - are giving serious thought to the scenario of innovative purchase and lease back and operating lease solutions,” adds Steven.  “We are getting some good feedback from aircraft owners that this is the model for the future and a more mature way of financing a depreciating asset.”

“Concluding our first deal for Veling Tayara will be key,” says Uday, noting there is growing interest from the Middle East, India and China, especially.  He likens it to a significant achievement Veling just concluded.  At the end of March Veling ratified its first Japanese operating lease for Emirates on an Airbus A380 (A-6EOG) Serial No 172.  “The deal took 18 months to complete, but the next one will be much smoother.  This is how I see Veling Tayara’s proposition evolving,” he said. 

Headquartered in Mauritius, with complementary offices in London, Dubai and Florida, Veling Group was founded in 2002 by Nayak and Nirvan Veerasamy to offer innovative and responsive solutions in aircraft leasing, sales and remarketing of commercial aircraft. In 2014 that remit was expanded into executive jets. Today, Veling has a portfolio of 12 large cabin aircraft – eight Boeing 777s and four Airbus A340s.  Clients include Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines.

The group operates two state-of-the-art private airport terminals – in Mauritius and St Kitts & Nevis in the Caribbean.  Its Yu Lounge brand is a private terminal owned and operated by the Veling Hospitality Group, also founded in 2002 by the same principals.  

In operation since December 2008 and May 2014, respectively, the Yu Lounge Mauritius and Yu Lounge St Kitts are state-of-the-art private terminals encompassing a luxury lounge for discerning passengers travelling on commercial airliners and private jets.