Albinati Aeronautics
Swiss independent charter and management company operates diverse portfolio of bizjets.
Phil Rose
Contributing Writer
On Jul 1, 2024, Dassault Falcon 6X s/n 7 completed its inaugural commercial flight from MLA (Intl, Malta) to GVA. Pictured are (L–R) Albinati Aeronautics CEO Stefano Albinati, Dir Gen Transport Malta Civil Aviation Directorate Captain Charles Pace, Albinati Aeronautics Safety and Compliance Monitoring Mgr Moïse Edouard Clerempuy, and Albinati Aviation Flight Ops & Office Mgr Karl Galea.
Since its founding by CEO Stefano Albinati in 2001, Swiss business aircraft charter and management company Albinati Aeronautics has enjoyed almost continuous annual fleet growth. Today, having gained a worldwide presence, it ranks among Switzerland’s largest independent bizav operators, and also works with customers in buying, selling, and managing aircraft.
GVA (Geneva, Switzerland)-based Albinati Aeronautics and its Malta-based sister company Albinati Aviation manage more than 20 aircraft and employ 150 people. Aircraft under management today are a mix of types, including the Bombardier Global 7500/6000/5000 and Challenger 604, Dassault Falcon 6X and 7X/8X, Textron Citation Latitude and M2, Pilatus PC-24, and PC-12 NG. The most recent addition to its charter fleet – the first of 2 Falcon 6Xs – was delivered to GVA in July.
Background
Founder & CEO Stefano Albinati is a pilot with more than 6000 hr TT, much of it gained in Bombardier Challengers and Learjets, Dassault Falcon 900s, 50s, and 2000s, and assorted King Airs. His career in business aviation began in 1988 when he took a job flying and managing a Learjet 55.
Soon afterwards, the Learjet was replaced by a Challenger 601, making it possible to conduct missions not only throughout Europe but to North and South America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
Albinati recalls that, during this time, management companies would occasionally approach the company to offer their services. Wary of any management package that might mean surrendering some independence, he declined their offers.
In Oct 1990, the Challenger was sold, and Albinati left the company soon after. In 1992, he started work for Transairco, a Beechcraft dealership, as an assistant aircraft salesman and demo/ferry pilot. Albinati would often fly new King Airs from the US to customers in Europe. One such customer was Breitling, and it was during a ferry flight that Albinati first met Breitling CEO Théodore Schneider.
“We became friends,” he recalls, “and one day he asked me if I wanted to join his company. Breitling, as a manufacturer of watches for pilots, was seeking someone who was heavily involved in aviation and who knew exactly what a pilot needs in a watch.”
Shortly after joining Breitling in 1996, Albinati joined the Breitling Orbiter project, and became instrumental in building the small team that worked with Cameron Balloons and the pilots to achieve the goal of a nonstop around-the-world balloon flight.
This was accomplished in 1999 by pilots Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones aboard Orbiter 3.
Foundation and growth
In the early 2000s, a friend approached Albinati seeking his help in purchasing and managing an aircraft. An agreement with Breitling allowed him to do so, and in Jan 2001 he established his own aviation company, Albinati Aeronautics, with a small office at GVA and a staff of 2 — himself and a secretary. At this point he officially left Breitling, but continued to serve as its aviation consultant.
By 2005, Albinati Aeronautics had grown from a 2-person operation to a company managing 3 aircraft and employing 10 people. In order to offer a broader range of services, the decision was made to obtain a Swiss air operator certificate (AOC). This was duly achieved that same year, allowing this relatively small company to establish itself as a commercial operator.
Also in 2005, Albinati Aeronautics created its own Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO) in accordance with EASA requirements, allowing it to operate independently from OEMs and maintenance centers, with company engineers responsible for the maintenance and servicing of all commercially and privately operated aircraft.
Over the next few years, with business aviation flourishing worldwide, Albinati Aeronautics developed steadily while establishing a reputation for quality. “I’m a very meticulous person,” says Stefano Albinati, “and I like things done the right way. I knew I would never be able to compete with the big fleet operators, so I would only focus on quality.” Essential to this goal was finding just the right people. He notes with some satisfaction, “I was able to set up a team of people who share the same spirit, and we were soon recognized as being small but of high quality.”
Albinati Aeronautics survived the economic crash of 2008 better than many of its competitors. This was due in part to the company’s emphasis on quality and safety rather than size, and a customer base that included both corporations and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).
The company obtained Intl Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) Stage 1 accreditation in 2009, and by the following year had laid the foundations for international expansion, including US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and FAR Part 129 foreign carrier approval. Albinati Aeronautics’ Swiss AOC allowed the company to operate commercially in Switzerland, but in order to offer its services outside of the country, it would need an AOC issued in a European Union (EU) nation.
In 2013, after due consideration, it was decided to establish a sister company – Albinati Aviation – with an office in St Julian’s, Malta, and obtain a Maltese AOC. This was achieved the following year. Now, with Albinati Aeronautics holding both Swiss and Maltese AOCs, customers were able to register their aircraft for commercial operations throughout Europe.
Albinati Aeronautics continued to press ahead in areas of quality assurance, gaining IS-BAO Stage 2 accreditation in 2013 (renewed in 2019), and has been Argus Platinum certified since 2019. It also meets EASA and Swiss FOCA Part-NCC (non-commercial operations with complex motor-powered aircraft) standards.
In 2017, Albinati Aeronautics opened a third office, this time at TRN (Caselle, Torino, Italy), to support the operation of its 3 Italian-based aircraft and expand its presence in the country. The company continued to grow, and by 2018 it had 140 employees and was managing 19 aircraft.
COVID-19 hit the industry hard. In the spring of 2020, business fell away almost completely as customers sought to ground or even sell their aircraft. By switching to part-time work, and with Swiss government assistance, Albinati Aeronautics was able to retain all its employees, and business picked up again in the summer due to demand for leisure travel on the part of HNWIs.
Bombardier Global 5000 at GVA, Citation Latitude at ZHK (Gstaad–Saanen, Switzerland), Pilatus PC-24 also at ZHK .
Business flights failed to pick up, however, and the pandemic’s second wave in the fall brought another collapse and a challenging winter for the company. Recovery, especially in the corporate business sector, came about slowly, but by 2022 Albinati Aeronautics had added several Dassault Falcon jets and Global 7500s – ideal for long-haul flights – and a Challenger 604, 2 Pilatus PC-24s, and a pair of PC-12 turboprops to cover medium-haul routes.
While Stefano Albinati recognizes that a standardized fleet would be easier to operate, he believes that a diversity of types enables the company to expand its experience and its offerings, making it more attractive to potential clients.
Fiscal lawyers and other experts in Switzerland and Malta work closely with new customers to help with drawing up contracts, choosing the most appropriate country of registration, deciding which AOC offers the greater benefit, and filing all necessary paperwork. Company specialists also work with LFV Aviation Insurance Brokers on behalf of clients.
Swiss fiscal authorities allow a Maltese airplane to be imported into Switzerland on payment of the assessed duties. Stefano Albinati explains, “Both authorities recognize onshore and offshore ownership. We work closely with our customers, help them assess the relative advantages of each option, and assist them with the papers to be presented to the authorities.”
Team members – ground
Marketing Manager Adrien Fostoff joined Albinati Aeronautics in 2019 after completing his MBA. Working initially as a marketing coordinator, he soon created an independent marketing team, which he leads today. “A lot of our clients value the fact that we have our own operations based in Geneva 24/7,” he says. “We operate our own CAMO, so we are completely independent from all manufacturers. And our customers value the discreet, personalized service we offer.
“Over the years,” Fostoff continues, “we’ve noticed among our clients a growing awareness of the environmental impact of our industry, which is now translating into tangible demand for more sustainable practices.”
Albinati Aeronautics is enhancing its flight operations with the introduction of a fully paperless cockpit, says Fostoff. “Since Mar 2024, all our aircraft have been operating using an electronic operational flight plan, allowing us to replace traditional paper documentation with iPads. This change not only reduces the workload for our pilots but also aligns with our commitment to sustainability by minimizing paper usage. The new system boosts both efficiency and safety, offering real-time updates and seamless document synchronization between pilots.”
A further response to this shifting of demand is that Albinati Aeronautics now offers a carbon offset program with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) worldwide for its customers. Fostoff remarks, “We’re seeing this new demand from more than half of our customers.”
With its charter business thriving, Fostoff sees Albinati Aeronautics continuing to be a major player in Europe. “We’re receiving a brand new PC-24 this year,” he notes, “and the Falcon 6X that was delivered recently – serial number 7 – will be available for charter worldwide. This will be a huge milestone for the company.”
Charter Sales Director Rolf Kuijper worked for an international brokerage firm before joining Albinati Aeronautics in 2018. His duties cover all aspects of chartering out aircraft, but he is also involved in aircraft acquisitions and assists Stefano Albinati in obtaining new management contracts. “We do a little bit of everything,” he explains. “Since we’re a small company, our roles tend to expand into different departments very quickly.”
The company offers what Kuijper describes as a comprehensive management service with transparent accounting. “Essentially, we are the administrative family office behind the plane,” he notes. “We have a fixed monthly management fee for the aircraft, which is independent of how many flights the owners make. We don’t charge any additional commissions.
All the operational costs incurred by your aircraft – whether it be flight sectors, fuel, or whatever – we invoice those back to the owners.” The sole exception to this applies in the case of those owners who charter out their aircraft as a way of reducing their operating costs. Albinati Aeronautics charges for this service, but, says Kuijper, “That’s the only other commission we will charge.”
He continues, “Our team works with a lot of clients directly, but we also work with a very large pool of brokers. Our aim is to be as efficient as possible, while reducing the cost for the owner, thus lowering the burden of owning an aircraft.”
Company marketing emphasizes the benefits of private aviation, such as time savings, confidentiality, and quality of life, as well as its experience with operating into smaller airports, many of them in mountainous regions. “We make sure that our pilots are certified to go to these airports, such as ZHK (Gstaad–Saanen, Switzerland), which has a very short runway (4593 ft), suitable for PC-24, PC-12, Citation Latitude, and even commercial Falcon 7X operations. There aren’t a lot of competitors able to do that.”
He concludes, “We like the idea of staying a medium operator. This allows us to remain low-key and really focus on quality.”
Ground Operations Manager Fabien Moret began his aviation career with Swissair, working at the airline’s ZRH operational control center (OCC). He joined Albinati Aeronautics in 2011 after a 10-year stint with GVA-based PrivatAir. Today, Moret is in charge of a 16-person team at the GVA OCC that takes care of flight planning and dispatching, permissions, handling, and fuel. He also leads Albinati Aeronautics’ 6-person customer service team. The 2 teams work in parallel 24/7 to achieve the necessary operational efficiency.
“Usually, crew members are assigned to one specific plane. Of course, that can change from time to time, but basically we operate with 4 pilots and 2 flight attendants assigned to an individual aircraft. We can switch a crew to another plane, but of course they’re dedicated to a certain owner. Normally, we hire and train them, but the cost for doing this is borne by the owner.”
Moret continues, “Our mission as operator includes keeping all crew members trained and current at all times. We send them for simulator and recurrent training as part of our commitment to the owner, and it’s included in the management fees.” Main providers are CAE and FlightSafety Intl, with CAE accounting for the majority.
“We use Collins Aerospace ARINCDirect for all flight planning and routing. We also run the load sheets, weight and balance, documents, etc, so that crew members have access to the entire flight plan package via the ARINC app on their iPads.
“As for permits, we do these inhouse by contacting the various civil aviation authorities. For some remote countries, or where there may be difficulties, we use local agents, or we use specialist trip providers. Our staff here can do this kind of job.”
Albinati Aeronautics has fuel contracts in place throughout Europe and North America, but also negotiates for the best deal when buying fuel at airports.
Catering falls outside Moret’s remit. “We use third-party providers,” he explains, “and normally this is the responsibility of the flight attendants. They receive the passengers’ requests and place the orders depending on the airport location. The flight attendants have a huge list of service providers and arrange the catering for each flight.”
Earlier this year, Albinati Aeronautics decided that it was time to change from Bizflight, which it had used for 14 years, to a new scheduling system. After testing several candidates, it selected a new Web-based flight scheduling system developed by Leon Software specifically for business charter. “All our flights now are booked within Leon,” says Moret. “It’s a nice system. It allows the crew to see the roster, the flights, the bookings, the handling agents – everything related to flights within this one application.”
He continues, “So now we have these 2 main systems – Leon for flight management, and ARINC for flight planning. What’s good is that ARINC is also our aircraft data link provider for communications. All our aircraft, at least in the cockpit, have ARINC data link service, meaning that all our flight plans can be downloaded automatically into the FMS.”
Cabin connectivity is a different matter. “It depends on which airplane,” says Moret, “but normally it’s another service provider for inflight entertainment, such as Satcom Direct.”
Alongside ARINC and Leon, Albinati Aeronautics also uses QuAero Centrik, a wide-ranging management system with modules for risk assessment, safety, compliance, manuals, training, etc. This system is also used by Transport Malta.
Team members – air
Flight Operations Manager Marc Monod is a highly experienced pilot with almost 20,200 hr TT on a wide range of types. “I would have had 40,000 if I hadn’t been in the office so much,” he jokes. He and Stefano Albinati both started taking flying lessons at age 17. “We always kept in contact,” Monod recalls, “but we took different paths. When I was 20, I joined Crossair (the Swiss regional airline) and flew Saab 340s. I stayed with them for 20 years, by which time we were flying MD-80s.”
After Crossair, there was Swiss International Air Lines, followed by PrivatAir with its VIP-configured Boeing 757s, 767s, and BBJs. Monod ended his time with PrivatAir as director of flight operations and check airman/instructor/examiner, and later flew for Norwegian as a Boeing 787 captain. His friendship with Stefano Albinati brought him to the company in 2022.
Monod is type rated in the Embraer Phenom 300, and has flown one since 2010. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a Phenom 300. In fact, we don’t have any planes I’m rated on.” As flight ops manager, Monod’s regular duties include flightcrew recruitment, pilot roster management, owner/pilot liaison, scheduling of simulator training, flightcrew promotions and assignments, operational procedures and minimum equipment list compliance, briefings, and ops manual updates.
Albinati Aviation Team Malta (L–R) Continuing Airworthiness Coordinator Lawrence Grech, Accounts Exec Marlene Borg, Accounts and Administration Exec Tiziana Bartolo, Continuing Airworthiness Coordinator Mark Fenech, Deputy Safety and Compliance Mgr Zachary Saliba, Continuing Airworthiness Coordinator & Team Leader Amanda Grima, Continuing Airworthiness Coordinator Tom Zammit Tabona, and Accounts Exec Brian Vella.
Despite this workload, he still finds a little time to fly with the GVA-based Aéro Club de Genève, which has a small number of Piper PA-28s and PA-32s and a pair of Super Cubs.
About 95% of crew members are employed by Albinati Aeronautics. Potential pilots must possess an ATP license. “In Europe you cannot fly this type of operation with a CPL,” Monod explains. “When we look at pilots, our usual minimum requirement for a first officer is an ATP license with at least 1000 hr TT, including 500 multi-engine.
For a captain, we look for an ATP with 3500 hr TT, and preferably type rated in the airplane.” Albinati Aeronautics prefers to hire pilots locally, or at least from within the region, and they must have the kind of personality associated with skills in service and hospitality. As Monod expresses it, “This is an essential requirement in business aviation.”
First Officer Juliette Flandinet had built a modest number of hours in the Citation CJ2 and CJ3 by the time the pandemic hit Europe. In 2021, keen to return to flying, she applied to Albinati Aeronautics and was hired, initially as a customer service team member. Over the next 3 years, while working in customer care, she was able to complete the necessary training and earn her Citation Latitude type rating. As a result, since Feb 2024 Flandinet flies as one of 2 copilots assigned to a GVA-based Latitude.
Having 4 flightcrew members – 2 captains and 2 first officers – assigned to an individual aircraft (and its owner) is standard practice. “We’re always flying together” says Flandinet, “and this applies whether we’re flying for the owner and his family or the occasional charter. We’re always with the plane.”
Flandinet estimates that she will be flying 200–300 hr a year for the owner. Most of the flights are for business, she says, with occasional family travel. Although nothing further is scheduled at present, the nature of Flandinet’s job requires her to be on standby much of the time. As she explains, when the call comes, “You have to be ready in 2 hours – so you have to be at home, and able to take your luggage and go directly to the airport.”
This has its benefits, though. “I have a lot of training to do now,” she says, “so I do that online. And sometimes I go to the office to help my old colleagues at customer service.”
For Flandinet, the move back to flying duties has been “really, really nice.”
Maintenance matters
Albinati Aeronautics does not have a maintenance facility, but as an approved CAMO it has 7 qualified engineers on staff, all holders of a Part 66 license endorsement or a degree in engineering, to answer maintenance questions, resolve AOG situations, etc. Aircraft are sent to Part 145 MRO facilities as needed. On occasion, such as for major overhauls, the company sends a person to supervise the work.
Continuing Airworthiness Coordinator & Team Leader (Malta) Amanda Grima holds a degree in mechanical engineering. She joined Albinati Aviation in 2016 after 7 years working for Lufthansa Technik Malta as a structural engineer.
Grima is the senior member of the 4-person Malta CAMO team that takes care of all 10 aircraft on the Albinati Aviation AOC. The team is qualified to handle mechanical and avionics issues, both scheduled and unplanned, and coordinates work with Part 145 MROs as needed. The work is split into scheduled maintenance, most of which takes place at GVA, and unplanned maintenance tasks, which often need to be conducted at other locations, depending on aircraft availability.
The CAMO team is available 24/7. Grima and a colleague (Lawrence Grech) typically focus on the Dassault fleet, while the 2 other team members (Tom Zammit Tabona and Mark Fenech) take care of the Bombardier and Pilatus aircraft. “It’s a tough job,” Grima admits, “but the work is interesting, and it makes a big difference to work in a pleasant environment.”
A last word or two
“We have a very diverse population of customers,” reflects Monod. “It’s not possible to define a typical customer, or typical usage.” And, as Kuijper observes, “Many of them have been loyal clients for 20 years or more. They run the gamut from large companies to wealthy private individuals.”
That loyalty speaks to Albinati Aeronautics’ reputation – and the solid teamwork and service that has built it.
Stefano Albinati sees himself as the conductor of a well-rehearsed orchestra. As he puts it, he “found just the right people” and is enthusiastic in giving them credit. “I may have to solve an occasional problem, but the day-to-day business is run by my managers, and I’m very comfortable with that. If you take out the people, you go nowhere – and it’s important that people understand that our company, despite having my name on it, is what it is thanks to the work of the professional people I have in my team. They’ve done it, not me.”
Phil Rose is a Virginia-based aviation writer and editor. He is the former managing editor of Professional Pilot magazine, and also works as a photographer and musician.