Aviator Cliff Hawkins is now comfortably at the helm, or even the cockpit, after his takeover deal of Airbourne Aviation was completed Thursday 3rd August. Founder and previous owner, Mac Smith, who set the school up in 1981, had recently suffered the loss of several key personnel, and was feeling the increasing economic pressures post-Covid. Mac said that “Airbourne [Aviation] has always been an important part of my life but I realised it needed investment, and that I could do with some support and a fresh pair of eyes to help update the company’s offering, so that we could continue to uphold our reputation for being the most popular, successful and trusted flying school in the UK.” Mac remains a key part of the business, offering guidance, helping to run the office and training students on the school’s flight simulator, along with Cliff and his son Will looking after operations, inquiries, bookings and finances.
Cliff says “I first met Mac and his daughter Shelley at the end of May [2022] and was instantly taken with the passion and enthusiasm they had for the business. After a few meetings I agreed to step in and help get the business back on its feet, eventually taking on the business myself. With a strong team of five highly experienced, qualified instructors, three friendly and knowledgeable office staff and an ever-expanding customer base, the business has recently regained a lot of the buzz and momentum of its former ‘glory’ days. Add to that the recent investment in new aircraft, plans to continue to increase the fleet size and instructor team, and for our training offering to include SSEA as well as NPPL, the future is looking incredibly bright for Airbourne Aviation.”
The school currently operates a fleet of five Comco Ikarus C42 aircraft, up from four last year, with plans for a sixth aircraft to join the fleet in October and also have a tailwheel EuroFOX for advanced training and tailwheel conversions.
