George Alafinov

JEKTA

CEO

George Alafinov is the CEO of Jekta, the OEM that is reviving the magnificence of flying boats in the PHA-ZE 100 aircraft. The first in a series of airframes, the Passenger Hydro Aircraft – Zero Emission 100 flying boat is designed to improve the transport opportunities for communities living close to water.  The inspiration is to make the PHA-ZE 100 an essential community transport asset, and with low operating costs, be an ideal aircraft for regions where traditional air travel is prohibitively expensive.

Led by George Alafinov, the international Jekta team has more than two decades of experience designing and building amphibian aircraft, including the eight-seat, composite amphibian LA-8, as well as the Borey ultralight amphibian. As a current board member of Delta Aerospace SDN BDH in Malaysia, George is consulting on how to optimize sales, marketing, and manufacturing of the Heron 8 (the brand name for the LA-8) in the region.

George started his career as an assistant at a Swiss aircraft design company, where he rose to become the head of product sales. He then moved sectors and became an international commodity trader before returning to aviation as a managing partner of a low-cost airline between 2019-2021. During that time, he supported the upgrade of the airline’s fleet, positioning it as the only A220 operator in Central Asia. George has also served time as a radio operator in the Swiss Air Force.

George is more than familiar with what it takes to think internationally, anticipate what future needs will be and create solutions to meet them. He is also a PPL holder and is pleased to be part of the future of an aviation sector that will reconnect families and improve travel options while being environmentally friendly. A Swiss citizen, George lives with his wife and family in Geneva.

Mikhali Alenkin

ArcosJet

Founder & CEO

A major in Aviation Technology, Mikhail Alenkin has been perfecting his knowledge and skills throughout his career. Over many years, he has led projects related to buying, selling, and managing business aircraft. Since founding ArcosJet in 2014, he has made the company one of the top brokers in business jet sales. His portfolio features dozens of successful international business aircraft brokerage deals. By early 2020s Mikhail has expanded its business portfolio to projects in airline industry, new aircraft dealership, helicopter & eVTOL operation and infrastructure. Mikhail is a great fan of yachting, a tennis player, and a pilot school student.

Katerina Barilov

Jump Aero

Chief Operations Officer

Ms. Barilov is the COO at Jump Aero, a startup building an eVTOL designed to help first responders and EMS personnel save lives in rural areas. Ms Barilov has extensive experience in aviation, structured asset-backed finance, and corporate strategy. She joined Jump Aero in 2019 after several years of providing consulting and niche financing in the aviation industry through her own private consulting business. Prior, Ms. Barilov was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs’ Industrials Group in New York, focused on assisting top tier aviation, aerospace and defense clients.
Prior to Goldman Sachs, she ran the Structured Finance division for Europe Middle East and Africa at Hawker Beechcraft, a leading aerospace manufacturer based out of Wichita Kansas. She joined Hawker Beechcraft as part of a small team of structured finance professionals formed to create a new solution for sales financing support of cross-border aircraft acquisitions. The team designed and launched a Structured Finance department which developed and maintained relationships with third party financiers, structured financing support and conducted credit analysis of potential clients.
She holds an MBA and Bachelors degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. She is an avid pilot with a passion for aerobatic competition with experience in a Pitts S2C. She spends her free time focused on adventure flying in her modified Piper Colt, cycling and running.

Paul-Franck Bijou

Lilium

VP Sales and Business Development

Paul-Franck Bijou is a trained aeronautical engineer and comes to Lilium with 27 years of aviation experience, having served in various roles in many regions across the globe. He most recently was VP of Pilot Training and Flight Operations for Airbus Military Aircraft and before that, he spent over a decade in sales leadership positions for Airbus and NavBlue. He is a certified Airbus A330 pilot and naturally, enjoys flying. In his current position, Paul-Franck is the VP Sales and Business Development for Lilium.

Paul Briggs

Bird & Bird

Consultant 

I offer our clients over 35 years’ experience in aviation & aerospace, covering almost every aspect of the sector.

Since the start of my career in 1987, I have worked as a lawyer and commercial director negotiating thousands of aviation commercial deals. After 17 years of being Joint Head of the International Aviation & Aerospace Sector Group at Bird & Bird LLP, I am now a Consultant, enthusiastically supporting Leo Fattorini (who I recruited from Virgin Atlantic) as head.

I still enjoy working in the aviation & aerospace sector and each year I get a new “hobby” to keep me fascinated, current and relevant (I hope).

5 years ago, I had a focus on how the industry is being transformed by technology and the digital world, OEM services and the after-market. Assisting clients to embrace disruption.

I fought hard to help my clients survive these often, existential threats and how to emerge from each crisis as a winner.

I have always been interested in the ‘metal’, and I still love the excitement of structuring a new deal.

I am leading the firm efforts in the sector in sustainability. This covers everything from SAFa and policy to eVTOL and new business models.

Having worked in GPA, BAE and Airbus I remain well connected across the global industry and I frequently moderate panels or make presentations at Airline Economics, AfJ, Ishka, MTO Network and Royal Aeronautical Society.

I still love doing aircraft deals but now largely focus more on strategic issues with much of the detailed lawyering done by more junior lawyers.

I am well known for a friendly, no-nonsense, direct approach to business and my enthusiastic passion for the sector.

As I am no longer a partner, I am free to act as a non-executive director or strategy director of clients and projects that interest me.

Jay Carmel

Renaissance Strategic Advisors

CEO 

Jay Carmel is a Principal at Renaissance Strategic Advisors (RSA) and leads its Civil Aerospace consulting practice.

Jay helps aircraft technology providers and investors identify and execute on new growth opportunities across the aviation ecosystem. He has advised leading aircraft system OEMs and start-up companies on business strategy, market analysis, acquisition due-diligence and technology roadmaps. Jay focuses on aerospace domains most exposed to disruptive innovation, including advanced air mobility (AAM) and its enablers such as next-generation propulsion, autonomous flight, aviation connectivity, and advanced manufacturing.

Jay joined RSA in August 2023 having previously served as a commercial aerospace practice leader at Avascent and Oliver Wyman. Prior to these roles, he worked at Merrill Lynch and for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Jay holds a B.S. in International Political Economy with a certificate in International Business Diplomacy from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Sergio Cecutta

SMG Consulting

Partner

Sergio Cecutta is a partner and co-founder at SMG Consulting, an Aerospace, Defense and Autotech consulting firm, where he leads the Advanced Air Mobility practice and he oversees strategy, product management, market analysis and business development for a diverse client portfolio of worldwide companies. He has been a part of the Advanced Air Mobility industry since its early days. He has spearheaded multiple research projects and helped clients understand the market and provide tailored products.
As a senior executive at multiple Fortune 200 companies, he has been involved with the development and introduction of products like the Airbus A380, the SmartView Synthetic Vision
System and the Gulfstream G500/600. He has also led the strategic due diligence of several M&A deals.
He received an MBA from the W. P. Carey school of business and he holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Rome and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.
He is a mentor at several schools and organizations, promoting the development of the next generation of Aerospace and Automotive talent.

Michael Cervenka

Vertical Aerospace

Chief Technology Officer

Chief Commercial and Technology officer at one of the world’s leading eVTOL start-ups and a pioneer in sustainable aviation. Michael has overseen incredible growth since joining Vertical in 2019, with the company transitioning from a 40-person start-up to listing on the NYSE within 2 years, flying multiple full-scale prototypes and building a record $6bn order book for 1500 VX4 aircraft from some of the world’s leading aircraft operators and lessors including American Airlines, Avolon, Japan Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. He played a pivotal in shaping both the company strategy and aircraft design, securing funding and fostering strategic partnerships with the likes of Rolls-Royce, Honeywell, Leonardo, and Microsoft.

Before joining Vertical, Michael spent 22 years at Rolls-Royce after graduating with a first class honours degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Bristol University. He progressed through increasingly senior roles in design, development and service support across a wide range of Rolls-Royce civil and military aero engines. Most recently, as Head of Future Technologies reporting to the group CTO, he co-wrote the group’s electrical strategy, routinely reported to the board on disruptive technology and business model threats and opportunities and led a global multidisciplinary team responsible for generating future concepts and developing, protecting and transferring cutting edge technologies across all of the Rolls-Royce businesses.

Neil Cloughley

Faradair

Chief Executive Officer & Founder

Neil Cloughley is Chief Executive Officer and founder of Faradair® Aerospace Limited.

Formed in 2014, Faradair® was the UK’s first dedicated sustainable aviation new aircraft manufacturer, with a vision for increased regional air mobility via hybrid-electric flight.

One of the first to propose a Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) clean sheet designed aircraft, the BEHA has an innovative wing configuration and quiet, low-cost operational capability and no new infrastructure requirements needed. The BEHA is designed for commercial passenger and non-civilian/cargo applications in manned and unmanned configurations, following on from family led pioneering work within the Unmanned Air Vehicle sector 30 years ago.

Over the last 10 years Neil has spoken at every major sustainable aviation conference across the globe, including the first Revolution Aero in 2018, winning a number of pitching events and business awards whilst championing the opportunity for hybrid-electric flight and Regional Air Mobility. The company has a world-class team from across the aviation and military sectors and PwC listed Faradair as ‘One to watch’ in their NetZero Future Fifty report.

Lewis Cronin

Aerospace Technology Institute

Senior Strategy Manager

As Senior Strategy Manager at the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), Lewis leads on developing strategic interventions to enable the market for next generation and zero emission aircraft. Drawing on a decade of banking experience and his personal passion for aviation, Lewis has a strong understanding of the barriers to commercialising zero-carbon flight and is also responsible for:

• leading the market and exploitation assessment of ATI funding applications
• developing the ATI’s global market forecast model, identifying sustainable technology opportunities with the highest market potential and return on investment
• developing and implementing strategies to leverage grant funding within the private finance sector

Dean Donovan

DiamondStream Partners

Managing Director

DiamondStream Partners has made a number of advanced aerial mobility investments including:  Elroy Air, Ampaire, GPMS, Volantio, Verdego, Wingtra, SwissDrones, Alaris Pro, and Jet Zero.  Its partners were also co-founders of Volaris, Mexico’s largest airline, and Eos. Dean remains a Director of Volaris and is also a Director at Volantio, JetZero, Wingtra, and Prophet.  He also participates in the University of California’s CITRIS Aviation Council.  Dean previously worked at Bain & Company for 13 years where ran the Auto Practice and Aviation Practice at various times.  Dean has worked extensively in Mexico, Spain, the US and Africa.

Dean graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California Berkeley where he studied Economics and Rhetoric. He received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1990.

James Dorris

Odys Aviation

Co-Founder & CEO

James is a Co-founder and CEO of Odys Aviation. He co-founded the company alongside Axel Radermacher in April 2019 with a mission to transform aviation from fuel guzzling aircraft at congested airports to quiet, sustainable aircraft accessible from every neighborhood. Prior to founding Odys Aviation, James held leadership roles at GoogleX, Virgin Hyperloop One, and Arrivo. He started his career in Fusion Energy Research at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center where he developed novel hardware to spatially localize plasma instabilities, and has long been passionate about improving sustainability and efficiency of transportation systems. James has over 15 years of experience building teams at startups, developing core technology, and building transportation systems.

Richard Ellis

NATS Services

Director New Airspace Users

An experienced international technology executive with extensive Board level experience and a track record of creating commercial & operational led scale up of enterprise & SaaS B2B technology providers (Public & pre-IPO) to create market value for venture capital and institutional investment, growth, cash flow, and profitability. Key strengths include: establishing and managing high performing teams to embed a customer focused culture with clear accountability, and commercial & execution performance; establishing, growing, and selling to international direct & indirect channels & creating strategic partnerships with innovative go to market approaches to expand revenues, markets & geographies; analytical & programmatic approach to creating services & solutions and improved customer experiences; creating and scaling complex managed services, professional services, product, delivery, and support operations to achieve Customer delight.

As Director of New Airspace Users within NATS Services, the focus is to create commercial services and capabilities to enable drones, advanced air mobility such as air taxis, and high altitude and space users to carry out complex uncrewed operations.  This will require significant digitisation and automation to allow these users to operate ‘beyond visual line of sight’ whilst integrating into existing crewed airspace, which uses the more traditional means of navigation and air traffic control.

Recent experience in the unified traffic management (UTM) space, initially with AirMap as VP Worldwide Customer Success responsible for establishing, commercialising, and supporting new airspace capabilities for ANSPs and enterprises, and more recently as Chief Business Officer with Altitude Angel.

Adam Forsyth

Longspur Capital Limited

Head of Research

Adam Forsyth is an equity analyst covering clean energy companies. A civil engineering graduate, Adam worked for an environmental charity before completing an MBA in 1991. After building a utilities research team for Robert Fleming he became joint head of pan-European utilities research at JPMorgan Chase. In 2002, Adam left to co-manage activist manager, Platinum Fund Managers. Returning to the sell side in 2008 to focus on clean energy, Adam formed Longspur Research in 2019. He has topped the Starmine, Extel and Institutional Investor Awards. He has Chaired the CFA UK Energy Finance Special Interest Group and the CFA Climate Change Disclosure Working Reporting Group and developed the Solactive Longspur Global Clean Energy Index. In 2023 Longspur Research was Institutional Investor’s highest ranked independent provider for UK Clean Energy & Utilities. Adam has written investment research on all areas of sustainable aviation including eVTOLS, SAF and hydrogen powered solutions. He is also joint holder of the 2022 Pooleys Flight Equipment Long Distance Medal for a flight part fuelled by a prototype SAF.

David Fowkes

FTI Capital Advisors

Senior Managing Director

David Fowkes is a member of FTI Capital Advisors (“FTICA”), FTI Consulting’s investment banking subsidiary. Mr. Fowkes has 25+ years of experience in the aviation, aerospace and advanced air mobility (“AAM”) industries, having helped clients execute assignments in 30 countries across six continents.
David focuses on investment banking assignments for clients across the aviation, aerospace and advanced air mobility spectrum, providing capital raising, M&A and restructuring services for clients including airlines (passenger, regional, cargo), maintenance organizations (MRO, parts and engine repair), private aviation clients (charter, fractional and FBO), leasing companies, training organizations (pilots and mechanics), helicopter operators and aviation and aerospace-related private equity investors.
Mr. Fowkes has recently added a focus on new technology advanced air mobility clients including electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), drone and other new aviation technology passenger, cargo and services businesses.
Prior to joining FTICA, David was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Aviation, Aerospace and Advanced Air Mobility Banking at Raymond James. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director at Imperial Capital and has held senior roles at Seabury group, Salomon Brothers, Citibank, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank, and ran M&A and integration for global helicopter operator Bristow Group.

Brian Flynn

DiamondStream Partners

Managing Director

Mr. Flynn is a Managing Director of DiamondStream Partners, a firm that invests inand helps build mobility transformation related companies. DiamondStream looks for the rough diamonds that we can help founders transform into fully cut gems primarily in three categories:

He co-founded Volaris (NYSE: VLRS), Mexico’s largest airline. He also co-founded DiamondStream Analytics, a travel analytics firm. He currently sits on the board of Sellar Labs and GPMS. Mr. Flynn helped form The Metropolitan Bank and build it to $1.3B in assets. Among other investments, Mr. Flynn led the acquisition and turnaround of Victory Refrigeration which led to a 13x return for investors.

He previously was a Managing Director at Bachow & Associates, the then largest private equity fund in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with investors such as CalPERS and the Ford Foundation. At Bachow, he identified, negotiated an investment in or acquisition of, built, grew, and sold companies in a variety of industries.

Mr. Flynn served as CEO of Innova Corporation (now Harris Corporation: HRS), a leading telecom equipment company that resulted in a 22x return for investors. Prior to Bachow, he was a consultant at Bain & Company where he met Mr. Donovan. Mr. Flynn also worked for DLJ in investment banking and GE Capital in finance. He is a Beta Gamma Sigma graduate of Columbia Business School and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College, and he also studied at the London School of Economics. He sits/sat on various public and private company boards of directors.

Nikhil Goel

Archer

Chief Commercial Officer

Nikhil Goel is the Chief Commercial Officer at Archer. After starting at Uber as a product leader on the emerging markets and rider experience teams, Goel co-founded Uber Elevate. Working alongside NASA and Uber executives, Goel helped spearhead the vision for Uber Elevate which has, in turn, inspired the approach to commercializing the industry. In 2020, Goel helped spin off the Uber Elevate business in a strategic sale to Joby Aviation. Goel has been a Senior Advisor to Archer since 2020 and prior to Uber held roles at McKinsey & Company, Google, Microsoft, and NASA. He attended Vanderbilt University and earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering with a double major in computer engineering and economics.

Nick Gunady

Aerovy

CEO 

Nick Gunady is the Founder CEO of Aerovy. He was previously a PhD student & research assistant at Purdue University, where he worked on Advanced Air Mobility operational studies funded by NASA Langley Research Center. Nick has previous experience working across a variety of civil and military fleets at American Airlines Tech Ops and GE Aviation Systems.

Michael Halaby

MUFG Bank

Head of Aviation Advisory

Michael Halaby has 20+ years of providing strategic funding advice to C-suite executives in the aviation, automotive and financial institution sectors on accessing the US$ and international bond, secured bank debt, and regional financing markets; he has arranged over US$122 billion in debt financing via ~270 transactions for borrowers in the US, Europe and Middle East. Michael is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society

— Based in London, Michael Halaby is Managing Director – Head of Aviation Advisory at MUFG Bank, Ltd. In this capacity, Michael’s role is to build and supervise the Aviation Advisory business for its global aviation partners including lessors, airlines and investors which aims to help its clients raise capital, offer aviation financial consultancy services such as a lease versus buy analysis or fleet financing options and provide advice on ESG strategies. He is an active speaker and writer on ESG (see list below)

— Previously, Michael Halaby was Principal at Halaby Aero Limited, a consultancy actively involved in advising aviation firms on accessing debt and equity financing as well as ESG aviation finance. Assignments included advising a debut operating lessor on strategies to access the debt markets, assisting an aviation asset manager on their ESG policy, providing insight on regional aircraft, slots financing and on expansion into aircraft leasing. Michael has also written recent analyses on ESG in aviation finance, on the regional aircraft sector and on the debt capital markets for aviation. He wrote an ad-hoc market commentary, “Contrails of Consciousness”, which was read by hundreds of senior aviation professionals

— Michael was Head of Aviation Debt Origination – EMEA at Deutsche Bank in London for over six years; he was responsible for client coverage of airlines, aircraft operating lessors and aviation-related businesses across the debt product suite (eg secured bank debt, EETC, unsecured bonds, private placements, ABS, Schuldschein, Jolco); he increasingly spent time on equity private placements and M&A

— Previously Michael was a Senior Transactor in Deutsche Bank’s Structured Finance team structuring secured debt transactions for airlines and aircraft leasing companies located in EMEA and some select names in the US

— Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Michael worked at Valais Advisory for two years providing issuers and investors with impartial, independent assistance in securing and understanding debt capital markets financing

— Previous to Valais, Michael was at BNP Paribas in New York for six years as Managing Director — Debt Capital Markets where he was responsible for financials and aviation DCM. He personally executed 104 transactions with a total value of US$66.8 billion as Lead Manager/Bookrunner. Michael also built and ran the Yankee bond product group

— Before BNP Paribas, Michael worked for ABN AMRO, for ten years, initially in Amsterdam then London and New York in their Debt Capital Markets group covering US aviation, auto and FIG clients. At ABN AMRO, Michael executed 152 transactions with a total value of US$55.3bn as Lead Manager/Bookrunner

— Michael received his MBA from Columbia Business School and received his BSBA from the University of
Denver; he is also diplomé in French Civilisation from the Université de la Sorbonne

— Before business school, Michael worked in Paris for four years at American Express Carte – France and
American Express Bank – France

— Michael often speaks at company presentations and conferences on ESG topics and the state of the debt markets for borrowers and lenders/investors, including Airline Economics, AirFinance Journal, Air Convention, IBA, ICAO, Ishka, Victory Events

— He also is quoted in various publications including the Financial Times, Airfinance Journal, Airline Economics

— He is FCA registered and was previously a US registered representative (Series 17, 24 and 63); he is a British-American citizen

— Michael is a member of ISTAT and has sat on the ISTAT Humanitarian Committee since 2015; he is also a committee member of The Aviation Club UK

— He was a helicopter pilot (R44), designed a line of aviation-themed notebooks: FLIGHTBOOK, and is an avid and award-winning amateur aviation

Hamid Hamidi

Limosa

Founder & CEO

Dr. Hamid Hamidi is a distinguished figure in the aerospace sector, harnessing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering to fuel innovation. With dynamic leadership, he has contributed significantly to renowned industry players such as Bell Helicopter and Bombardier Aerospace, honing his expertise. As an enterprising visionary for over 20 years, he founded Limosa in June 2021 and spearheads Limosa’s dedicated team, pioneering LimoConnect—an all-electric Vertical and Conventional Take-off and Landing (eVTOL+eCTOL) aircraft that prioritizes often-overlooked human factors and user experiences. Driven by a profound commitment to sustainability, he is poised to revolutionize aerial transportation, embodying the fusion of technical acumen, leadership, and a forward-looking perspective.

Siyi Hao

Roland Berger

Lead for Aerospace Propulsion Technologies

Siyi leads the work in aerospace propulsion technologies at Roland Berger. His work spans both the current engine sector as well as the future propulsion technologies and new fuel types, ranging from SAF to hydrogen to electric. He has conducted work with organisations throughout the aerospace value chain, including OEMs, suppliers, MRO providers, startups and airlines. Siyi holds a Masters degree in Engineering, Economics and Management from the University of Oxford.

Sara A. Jones

Honeywell Ventures

Head of Aerospace Investments – Honeywell Ventures

Sara A. Jones is a strategic leader, investor and advisor focused on the future of mobility, including the forefronts of advanced air mobility and sustainable aviation. Sara leads Aerospace venture capital investing for Honeywell, investing in emerging technologies and platforms across aerospace and defense. She serves as advisor for advanced air mobility startups and Sustainable Aero Lab. Formerly, she was an SVP at New Vista Capital, an investment firm focused on emerging technologies in Aerospace and Defense. Previously at Boeing, Ms. Jones drove future mobility strategy and key initiatives, from serving as Innovation Director at Boeing HorizonX and launching Boeing’s first international urban air mobility pilot to leading the development of Boeing Commercial Airplane’s 2050 Vision for which she was recognized in Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 under 40. Previously, as a management consultant, she created high-ROI business and customer strategies for Fortune 100 companies, including Microsoft, T-Mobile, and Nordstrom. She serves as a board observer for Cesium Astro, on University of Michigan’s Urban Technology Advisory Board, and as VP on the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Board of Trustees. Ms. Jones holds a BA from NYU and an MBA from University of Michigan.

Marc Henry de Jong

Electron Aerospace

CCO/COO & Co-Founder

Marc-Henry de Jong is a serial entrepreneur, who after successfully bringing to market a technology to produce biodegradable plastic has embarked on decarbonising short-haul aviation. Marc-Henry believes that battery electric propulsion is the way to go, as is the most energy efficient way as well as offers the lowest operating costs. Together with his business partner Josef Mouris, an ex-airline pilot, they want to make ELECTRON the household brand for regional air mobility. Step one is building a 5-seater battery electric aircraft, capable of flying 750 km max range; followed by step two to operate a fleet of them as an on-demand service.

Jenny Kavanagh

Cranfield Aerospace

Chief Strategy Officer

Jenny Kavanagh joined Cranfield Aerospace Solutions in 2017 as Head of Airborne Systems, moving to the role of Chief Strategy Officer in 2020 following the successful launch of Project Fresson, an ATI funded project to convert a 9-seat Britten Norman Islander aircraft to gaseous hydrogen fuel cell propulsion. Jenny has been a Chartered Engineer for over 20 years, has led product development projects in aerospace for the past 18 years and is now responsible for the strategic exploitation of Cranfield Aerospace’s technology developments. A mother of two, she is passionate about the aviation industry’s ambition to decarbonise and to help create a cleaner world for future generations.

Juliana Kiraly

EVE Air Mobility

Head of Business Development – Europe

Juliana leads Eve’s Business Development in Europe, being responsible for the sales strategy of Eve’s eVTOL and services in the region, for securing partnerships throughout the UAM ecosystem, and for supporting future operations. Mrs. Kiraly has been working in aviation for more than 10 years. She started her career at Embraer Commercial Aviation, where she worked in areas such as Flight Operations, Market Intelligence and Sales & Marketing. Prior to joining Eve, Juliana held the role of Marketing Manager at Embraer, being responsible for the sales strategy in Western and Northern Europe, building complex models, structuring sales campaigns, performing quantitative and qualitative analysis and presenting market opportunities to the airlines in the region. She holds a bachelor in Aeronautical Engineering from University of São Paulo and a Master in Business Strategy from FIA.

Eric Kohn

Barons Capital Partners

Chairman & Managing Partner

• Founded an Industrial Automation Group in 1972 in Europe and the USA, which he managed and divested in
• Founded Barons Capital Partners in 1987, a Swiss Advisory Investment Bankiing firm with a UK subisidary which is FCA regulated and authorised and has served on the board of several quoted companies.
• Very wide operational and financial experience in the airline, engineering, security, biotech, and aerospace

industries.

[email protected]

+41 79 503 01 50

• Has led a large number of advisory engagements world wide, including for numerous
• Was a member of the Board of Directors of Avcorp Industries , as well as serving as Chair of the Audit Committee, a publicly listed Canadian aerospace manufacturer, from November 2004 to June 2017.
• Extensive transaction experience and a deep contact network among Private Equity funds and Individual
• Served as a Member of the Supervisory Board and Deputy Chairman of dba, the German regional
• Led a successful restructuring and turn-around of Holmes Protection Group , quoted on the London Stock Exchange, as Vice Chairman & CEO.
• Previously Chairman of Noventa Ltd, a Jersey LSE AIM quoted Mining Company, for which he conducted public share offerings and a dual listing.
• Served in the UK Reserve Army in Airborne Forces retiring with a rank of Col and was awarded the Territorial Decoration.
• Liveryman of both the Honourable Company of Air Pilots and The Worshipful Company of
• Chairman of The Royal British Legion Swiss
• Has a Multi-Engine pilot’s license with an Instrument
• Swiss and UK citizen, fluent in English, French and

Catherine Kolimas Schorm

Goldman Sachs

Managing Director, Globals Industrials Group within Investment Banking

bio coming soon…

Fabrice Kunzi

SkyGrid

Chief Operating Officer

Fabrice is the Chief Product Officer at SkyGrid, a Boeing and SparkCognition company. Prior to joining SkyGrid, Fabrice led cross-functional corporate venturing and technology incubation endeavors at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI). Preceding that position, he served as the Chief Engineer for GA-ASI’s Detect and Avoid (DAA) system, leading the transition from prototype to product and operational fielding. He also served as CTO for the Panoptes Systems Corporation which developed the first commercially available obstacle avoidance system for small unmanned aircraft systems. As part of Panoptes, he also contributed to the maturation of the Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) concept in collaboration with NASA.

Fabrice currently serves on RTCA, ICAO, EUROCAE and NATO industry committees, leading the standardization activities of key systems required to enable autonomy and operational improvements for piloted and unpiloted aircraft worldwide.

He holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of North Dakota, and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautical Engineering from MIT. Additionally, Fabrice possesses an FAA Commercial Pilot’s License and a Swiss Private Pilot’s License.

Nigel Leishman

LCI

Chief Commercial Officer

Born in Scotland, Nigel has been involved in commercial aviation for over 35 years including several management roles providing broad experience in all aspects of the air transport business. Prior to his current role which he assumed in 2023, Nigel was LCI’s Executive Vice President & Global Head of Marketing.

He joined LCI in 2008 from aircraft leasing company AWAS where he was Vice President Sales based in Singapore. During his seven years with AWAS he concluded many transactions throughout Asia including China.

Prior to joining AWAS, he was Customer Marketing Director for Airbus for six years, based in Toulouse and latterly Sydney. In this role he was instrumental in several new aircraft deals in Europe and Asia-Pacific region.

Earlier in his career he also worked with DHLWorldwide Express in the Middle East and airline Air Europe based in London-Gatwick.

Nigel holds a Masters degree in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University, where he graduated top of his class, and previously studied at Edinburgh University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Alan Lim

Alton Aviation Consultancy

Director

Alan is a seasoned aviation professional with almost a decade of management consulting and line management experience. He is experienced in business planning, cost reduction, business process improvement, sales force effectiveness, and organizational development.

Alan started his career with Singapore Airlines, working in the commercial, operations, and strategy departments. In particular, he was one of the pioneer members of the airline’s Business Transformation team, where he helped to kickstart its three-year long transformation program. He has broad expertise across the aviation value chain across multiple geographies in Asia, Europe, and Australia.

Prior to Alton, Alan was a management consultant with Partners in Performance, an implementation-focused consultancy, where he helped clients to identify and implement various business improvement opportunities across the aviation, hospitality, and manufacturing industries.

Alan earned his BS in Economics from University College London and his Master of Science in Financial and Managerial Economics from HEC Paris.

Eric Lithun

Elfly Group

CEO

An IT entrepreneur, Eric Lithun has participated and invested in several start-ups. For over 13 years he successfully built up Identum, a prolific cloud-based Identity Management System business. The company was bought by Visma in 2023. Eric holds a number of real estate investments. A passionate GA aviator, he holds a PPL (A)-SEP and owns a Piper Commander 112A.    He founded Elfly Group in 2018 with a vision to promote and support various electric aviation projects in Norway – and beyond.  ‘Noemi’ (No emissions) is the group’s commercial seaplane currently under development.  Elfly is based in Bergen and Torp, with its research and development department in Tonsberg.   Elfly employs nearly 30 people, many joining from leading established OEMs.

Anton Lutz

FlyV

Founder & CEO

Please find attached a headshot of me. Furthermore, short bio:
Anton Lutz is the Founder & CEO of the flyvbird GmbH, the world´s first on demand airline powered by their own developed AI-algorithms, aiming to connect every of the world´s 22´000 airfields in a franchise-airline-model and therewith move people faster around the world.

Anton´s background is mainly in commercial functions of large network airlines like revenue management. Furthermore, he has an academic background in aviation & logistics as well as is a trained commercial pilot.

Michael Lynch

Irelandia Investments

Partner

Michael is a partner at Irelandia, the investment office of Dec Ryan.

Irelandia is best known for its success as a low cost carrier developer – Ryanair in Europe, Tiger Airways in Asia, Allegiant in the USA, VivaAerobus in Mexico and Viva Air in Latin America.

Michael leads the investment function at Irelandia where we also invest outside aviation across a number of different asset classes, including public and private equity, venture capital, credit and real estate.  Our activity in AAM began in 2015 and has included Skyports, Manna and a number of adjacent ventures.

Irelandia is now developing one of the world’s first electric aircraft operators with the goal of launching commercial operations in 2025.

Michael  graduated from University College Dublin with a degree in Business and Law and previously worked in corporate finance and private equity having qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG. In his spare time, you will find Michael on his bike (if his daughters allow him). “

Rishi Majithia

MONTE

Head of Investment

Rishi Majithia is Head of Investment for MONTE.  MONTE is a regional turboprop lessor focused on financing sustainable aviation solutions.  Rishi is responsible for capital raising, acquisition opportunities and investment strategy.  Prior to working at MONTE, Rishi worked as a corporate lawyer then investment banker for a decade.

Justin McClellan

BAE Systems

Aircraft Electrification Business Development and Strategy Director

Bio coming soon…

Alex McCord

Skyports

Vertiport Development Lead 

Bio coming soon…

John McKenna

Sees.ai

Chief Executive Officer

Previously, Managing Director, BeTomorrow UK; Investment Advisor to Makani Power (now inside Google X); Group Commercial Director, OC Sport (joined as 6th member of staff, acquired ten years later by Telegramme Group with 100+ staff); Consultant at Marakon Associates; and Structural Engineer at ARUP. John brings 18+ years of commercial expertise to the team working in high-growth start-ups and private companies.

James McMicking

ZeroAvia

Chief Strategy Officer

James’ 20+ year career combines strategy and engineering across multiple sectors, notably automotive and aerospace.  As Chief Strategy Officer at ZeroAvia, James is responsible for developing company and product strategy, developing future programs and government support, and program management across ZeroAvia’s ZA600 and ZA2000 engine programs.Prior to ZeroAvia, James worked in engineering and program management roles for engineering consultancy Ricardo, as a consultant with Booz & Company and as Chief Strategy Officer with the Aerospace Technology Institute where he was one of the founding executives.  James holds an MEng, MBA and CEng.

Seyed Mohsenii

Arc Aerosystems

CEO & Founder

Dr Seyed Mohseni is a highly accomplished entrepreneur with a remarkable record of founding successful businesses from a young age. Today, he is at the forefront of one of the most promising new aircraft developments in the world, leading ARC Aerosystems, a UK based company that specialises in the development of cutting edge, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) hydrogen powered aircraft for sub regional air transport. With a strong academic background in Aerospace Engineering, an MBA, and a doctorate in Gas Turbine Technology from Cranfield University, Dr Mohseni has brought together some of the most talented and successful aerospace professionals to develop a revolutionary inter-town air transport solution powered by renewable fuels and electric propulsion technology.

Simon Newitt

Heart Aerospace

President & Chief Commercial Officer

As President of Heart Aerospace, Simon leads the internal running of the company and ensures a dynamic and effective organization as the company continue to scale. In his role as President, Simon is also responsible for Government and Industry Affairs.

As Chief Commercial Officer at Heart Aerospace, Simon is responsible for the commercialization of Heart’s electric aircraft, from marketing and sales through to aircraft delivery, as well as for customer support & services.

Simon has over 25 years of aerospace industry experience, a large part spent fulfilling a variety of senior leadership roles at Embraer. He was deeply involved in the commercial success of the Embraer E-Jets program having led various regional sales and support teams, as well as global contracts, commercial operations and asset management. During his time at the Brazilian manufacturer, he also led the Customer Training department, serving each of the Embraer business units. Prior to Embraer, Simon worked in the sales and marketing team at Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace

Simon has a B.Sc (ECON) in International Relations from the London School of Economics & Political Science, and an M.Sc in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University.

Blain Newton

Beta Technologies

Chief Operating Officer

Blain Newton is the Chief Operating Officer of BETA Technologies, a Vermont-based aerospace company developing all electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with a focus on both passenger and cargo and logistics missions. BETA has already partnered with leading operators including UPS, the U.S. Air Force, United Therapeutics and Blade. At BETA, Blain is responsible for leading the company’s commercialization strategy and approach supporting the company’s pursuit of electric flight. BETA’s aircraft and integrated charging infrastructure will ultimately create an electric aviation solution to move people and cargo around the world safely, cost-effectively, and with minimal environmental impact. Mr. Newton was previously in executive leadership of several high growth, multinational healthcare software and analytics companies in the US and EMEA, including IDX Systems, Allscripts, and HIMSS Analytics. In these roles, he oversaw multiple global product launches, opened new operations on 4 continents, and led multiple M&A transactions valued collectively at more than $1bn. Prior to these leadership roles, Mr. Newton served in audit and consulting roles with more than 35 high growth technology companies while at Andersen in Washington, DC.

Joshua Ng

Alton Aviation Consultancy

Director

Joshua Ng leads Alton Aviation Consultancy’s technology and mobility practice from his base in Singapore. Joshua has significant experience working with OEMs, operators, investors, and infrastructure players in realizing the ambitions of the sector.

Joshua has significant expertise in business strategy development, market demand forecasting, supply chain management, operational performance improvement, transaction advisory, and financial modelling. Joshua advises clients across the aviation value chain, all of whom entrust Joshua to provide accurate and insightful analysis when developing and implementing their long term business plans.

Prior to joining Alton, Joshua began his career at ST Aerospace, and later joined the New York-based consulting team of ICF, where he was a key member in the aviation and aerospace practice.

Shashank Nigam

Simpliflying

Founder & CEO

Shashank Nigam is the founder and CEO of SimpliFlying. Having consulted for more than 100 airlines over 15 years, Nigam is a frequent keynote speaker and has been widely featured in major media outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. His first book, SOAR, was an Amazon bestseller and is currently being taught to Masters students at Cranfield University (UK) and EmbryRiddle (USA). Sustainability in the Air is his second book that shares lessons from
innovators helping aviation become sustainable. He is the host of a leading podcast with the same name. A Canadian, he lives in London, UK with his wife and two daughters.

Rani Plaut

AIR

Co-Founder & CEO

Rani Plaut is CEO and Co-Founder of AIR, the startup reimagining air mobility with eVTOLs for mass personal use. With a rich background in mathematics and physics, as well as automotive and aerospace technologies, Rani’s impressive experience has led him to work with several OEMs and serve on the boards of multiple tech companies and venture funds. Prior to co-founding AIR, he was CEO and Co-Founder of Bmax, a leading provider of advanced metal processing solutions.

Tom Pluemmer

Wingcopter

Co-Founder & CEO

Tom is co-founder and CEO of Wingcopter, a leading German delivery drone company. His vision is to use cutting-edge unmanned technology to improve people’s lives around the globe by creating better access to healthcare, particularly in hard-to-reach regions. To achieve this goal, Tom has raised more than $100 Million so far, positioning Wingcopter as a frontrunner in the multi-billion-dollar drone delivery market. For his achievements, he has been recognized as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum.

Wouter du Preez

Jekta

Strategic Finance Advisor

Wouter du Preez is Strategic Advisor and part-time Chief Investment Officer at Swiss net-zero amphibian manufacturer, JEKTA. He acts as equity and asset finance arranger for JEKTA and support their global growth expansion. Wouter specializes in alternative Real Assets private credit, private equity, and ventures across sustainability, transportation/mobility, energy transition, impact-focused infrastructure and industrial sectors globally. He has over 25 years of investment banking experience, asset dealmaking, and risk management experience from various roles throughout his career.

Wouter has a clear passion for the environment, impact, and sustainability. He has been a Co-Founder & Co-Managing Partner at Greenstar Aviation Partners, an aerospace decarbonization focused advisor and equity arranger (2022-2024).  He currently serves part time in other roles supporting decarbonization being the Global Head: Mobility Decarbonization at global Energy Transition firm SWD Futures and holds active Non-Executive Board roles at Electro.Aero, an Australian sustainability startup, and 3 Fund companies of Swiss Asset Manager, Reichmuth & Co Investment Management AG, active in European transportation/energy transition/sustainability.

Previously, he held various positions at FirstRand Bank Limited (RMB Investment Bank), such as Global Head of Aviation & Structured Asset Finance (2003-2013 plus 2018-2021) and Senior Credit Analyst (1994-2003). He was also Structured Finance ME/Africa Head for Bombardier Aerospace (2013-2016). Wouter then acted as Structured Finance Head (2iC to the CIO) for a listed Investment Holding Group (CIG Limited) (2017-2018) and Lucid Ventures Strategic advisor in 2021/2022.

Mr. du Preez earned his international Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2005 and holds a Master’s Degree in Investment Management (Cum Laude) (1999) from Rand Afrikaans University and a Master’s Diploma in E-commerce (2000) from GIBS University.

Yesh Premkumar

Supernal

Senior Manager, Global Partnerships and Business Development

Yesh has always found himself as part of new markets and solutions for emerging markets. It’s perhaps because he thrives in challenging and undefined environments, and garners success by treading the gray and seeing the opportunity in every challenge. After 16 years at BAE Systems, he joined a new dynamic enterprise, Supernal Llc., part of Hyundai Motor Group, with focus on developing the groups aviation arm. At Supernal, he started with focus on developing and deploying blueprints for sustainable multi-modal mobility infrastructure and ecosystems. Yesh has recently taken on the responsibility of Head of Product to cover the business’ strategy across all its planned products and services and to drive their commercialization pathway. Yesh has had the opportunity to be part of a variety of markets and acquire a large spectrum of skills and experience. He has been in leadership roles in Engineering, Program Management, BD and strategy. His market experiences include military and commercial ground transport, maritime covering military and commercial in surface and under water vessels and now aviation.

Matthew Ridley

IAG

Investment Principal

Bio coming soon…

Kolin Schunck

Lufthansa Innovation Hub

Senior Manager Strategic Innovation & Intelligence

Kolin Schunck is a business and law graduate with experience in innovation, aerospace, and strategy consulting. He currently works as a Senior Manager for Strategic Intelligence at Lufthansa Innovation Hub, where he is responsible for the area of sustainable aviation. This includes sustainable aviation fuels, electric and hydrogen aviation, and advanced air mobility. Kolin is passionate about the disruptive forces shaking up the aerospace and aviation industry and is dedicated to contributing to a more sustainable aviation industry by connecting with the ecosystem, providing knowledge, and sharing insights with both external and internal Lufthansa Group stakeholders. He is a true aviation enthusiast and brings his passion to his work in a positive and impactful way.

Sergio Silva

Dronamics

Chief Airline Officer

Sergio is an experienced aviation executive, whose career spans commercial, private and business aviation as well as international cargo operations. With a background in operations, maintenance and engineering, as well as senior management, Sergio has a thorough understanding of what it takes to build and run the first cargo UAV airline business. His strong management acumen is gained through MSc studies and specialized courses, as well as international working experience across Europe and Asia.

Andre Stein

Eviation

CEO

Stein is the Chief Executive Officer of Eviation. A seasoned leader with a proven track record in product development and commercial execution, before joining Eviation he spent over 25 years at the Embraer group. While there, he co-founded EmbraerX and EVE Air Mobility and served as EVE’s CEO. In that role he led the company through its industrialization strategy, partnerships and sales, and capital raising, including EVE’s successful listing on the New York Stock Exchange. He is a Mechanical Engineer’s from UNICAMP in Brazil, an Executive Scholar in Marketing from Kellogg School of Management and a Royal Aeronautical Society Fellow.

Andra Steltemeier

Airbus Urban Air Mobility

Head of Commercial Development

Bio coming soon…

David Stepanek

Bristow Group

Chief Transformation Officer

David F. Stepanek serves as Bristow Group’s Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer since April 2021. In this role, he is responsible for the transformation of the Company’s business mix through strategic diversification into new markets. David served as Bristow’s Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer from June 2020 until April 2021 during the integration of Bristow and Era. From 2010 through 2019, he held positions within PHI, Inc., most recently having served as President, PHI Americas, responsible for the overall performance and direction of PHI’s U.S. and international operations in the Western Hemisphere. Before becoming President PHI Americas, he served as PHI, Inc. Chief Commercial Officer and led PHI’s growth in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and global expansion including the acquisition of HNZ Group’s offshore helicopter business. David held a variety of leadership positions at Era, Sikorsky Aircraft, (20 years) and served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a heavy lift helicopter avionics technician.

Darrell Swanson

EA Maven

Co-Founder and Director

Electric Aviation Maven or EA Maven is a consulting firm that specializes in demand modelling for electric aircraft, including both fixed-wing and eVTOL aircraft, as well as the related infrastructure needs. Director and Co-founder Darrell is an expert in electric aviation and its potential to shape the future of distributed aviation. He advises NASA’s Transformative Vertical Flight program, the Advance Air Mobility panel at ADS Group, the Community Air Mobility Initiative, and is a board member of the British Aviation Group. Darrell has over 25 years of experience in aviation consulting, including airport masterplanning and airport acquisition advisory services.

Chris Wills

Cirium Ascend Consultancy

Head of Consultancy Operations

Chris leads the operational side of the Cirium Ascend Consultancy closely supporting the Global Head of Consultancy. Chris is a Senior ISTAT Certified Appraiser, having headed the helicopter & flight simulator specialisms, as well as responsibility in other asset classes and valuations methodology. He has over 15 years of aviation industry experience including several years based in New York and previously was Vice President Product and Content, Aerospace & Finance sectors in Cirium.  He holds a Bachelor of Science First Class Honours degree in Air Transport Management with Diploma in Industrial Studies from Loughborough University.

Ben Woodfield

Bird & Bird

Senior Associate

I’m an associate in Bird & Bird’s London-based Commercial Group. I have a particular focus on major projects, primarily in the IT, healthcare and defence sectors.

Such projects often involve a complex matrix of agreements and a joint venture or collaborative element. Because of this, an understanding of how the deal fits together is hugely important. I am experienced at managing the constituent strands of a project and closing issues efficiently to drive the deal to completion. I work closely with other teams within Bird & Bird, drawing on the expertise within the firm to ensure that the various components of a project are effectively addressed.

In addition, my project experience includes advising at the post-signature contract management phase, which provides a different outlook. This has enabled me to develop a clear appreciation of the challenges faced by clients in delivering complex projects with multiple moving parts and, more importantly, how these challenges can be addressed and mitigated pre-signature.

More generally, I have broad experience in the technology sector and regularly advise on a range of matters including software licensing, cloud services and system implementation. I have gained a good understanding of the market having acted for both customers and suppliers, including on a secondment basis. I have an interest in disruptive technology and am a regular attendee at the firm’s UAS roundtable event.

I trained with Bird & Bird from 2010 onwards and qualified as an associate two years later.

Oscar Watkins

ICF

Associate – Aviation, Travel & Tourism

After graduating with a masters in International Business Management with Finance, Oscar began his career at DHL Supply Chain as a Solution Designer and Warehouse Manager. Oscar then joined ICF in 2022 where he is currently an Associate in ICF’s Aviation division in London. At ICF he has had the opportunity to develop a specialist knowledge on eVTOL and AAM through projects that have included a strategic advisory secondment at Virgin Atlantic Airways, market sizing and due diligence projects for a leading vertiport developing infrastructure developer & operator and a multi-case market sizing for an eCTOL aircraft manufacturer. He additionally represents ICF on several Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in the UK and US with the agendas of furthering the AAM sector into a fully-fledged industry.

Jean-Marc Youkhana

Uplifting Aviation

Managing Director

I am Jean-Marc Youkhana, owner of Uplifting aviation. I started my journey in the aviation industry in 1991 with a 6 year apprenticeship working with Air Provence international and Aerotech, based at Marseille Provence airport.

Air Provence international is one of the largest French air taxi and business jet operators and Aerotech is part 145 of the approved maintenance service centre, also based in Marseille Provence airport.
Within my apprenticeship, I attended the school in Annecy (IPAC) where I graduated with a business degree in sales engineering in 1997. Back then I was the youngest sales engineer in France to market airframes, engines, equipment and maintenance and overall services.

In 1997, I made the decision to move to the UK to learn English so as to further my career and create opportunities. I began working with Pratt and Whitney Canada, CSG GMBH, located in Farnborough, working as their customer support engineer looking after the French market. In 1998, I was offered an opportunity to join the Rolls Royce model 250 programme with H&S aviation in Portsmouth. I oversaw the business development and account management of all French speaking aircrafts and operators around the world.

As a primarily self-taught professional, my key drive has always been to put into practice the extensive knowledge I have gained from industry experts through a wide spectrum of activities such as maintenance and engineering, manufacturing, operations, export regulations, legalities, fiscal, investment, leasing, and many more.

Pursuing my long-held passion for selling helicopters and other aircraft, I launched Uplifting Aviation in 2002.

For the past 18 years, the company has grown steadily and has allowed me to develop an important network of the most respected, highly experienced and most reliable aviation specialists across the industry.

Since its inception Uplifting Aviation has managed just under $1.5 billion of transactions covering:
Helicopter brokerage and trading activities
Commercial aircraft deals
Business jets sales and acquisitions
Aircraft, helicopters, engines and components MRO services and trading
Aviation business sales and acquisition
Consulting services
Having invested the best part of the last 30 years and 60,000 hours in the Aviation industry, I am confident I am now in a position to undertake any missions that encompasses our field of knowledge and expertise.

Alexandre Zaramela

Moya Aero

CEO

Bio coming soon…

Jarek Zych

EA Maven

Co-Founder & Director

Darrell Swanson is a specialist on electric aviation and how it will lead to a future of distributed aviation. His knowledge encompasses electric aircraft infrastructure requirements and demand modelling for emerging electric Low-Cost Carriers (eLCCs). He was an advisor to NASA’s Transformative Vertical Flight groups 2 & 3, the Advanced Air Mobility panel at ADS, the Community Air Mobility Initiative and a board member of the British Aviation Group the largest trade body in the UK representing over 200-member companies. Darrell has 20+ years’ experience as an aviation consultant on airport masterplanning projects thru to airport acquisition advisory services.

Steve Varsano

The Jet Business

Managing Director

Steve Varsano founded The Jet Business – the world’s first street-level corporate aviation showroom. His 30-year career in corporate aviation has seen him build a dynamic business in the aviation industry dealing with the most successful entrepreneurs and corporate executives throughout the world, and involved with over 450 aircraft sales to date and in excess of $5 billion. His extensive expertise and knowledge of the corporate aviation jet market has positioned him as an internationally regarded industry authority.

Varsano started his aviation career with the American Association of Airport Executives and as the Special Assistant to the President of the General Manufacturers Association where he oversaw the Statistical Forecasting Committee and the Airport and Airways Committee. He is a commercial-instrument-rated pilot, single and multi-engine. He graduated magna cum laude from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Studies.

Varsano also was heavily involved in the merchant bank/Mergers and Acquisitions sector as a senior Vice President of Triangle Industries and Trian Group, President of the international division of Yorkshire Global Restaurants, Senior Director of Business Development of Yum Brands International and consulted for Grotech Capital Group, Centre Partners and FTI Consulting.

Varsano sat on the Board of Directors for XOJET and Virgin Galactic. He has also served as President and senior executive positions for a number of private equity companies and the companies they controlled in various industries in America, Russia and Europe.