Irish companies showcase excellence in aviation at Dubai Airshow

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Enterprise Ireland Middle East, the regional arm of the Irish government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets, is hosting eight of Ireland’s leading aviation companies at this year’s Dubai Airshow as the country continues to strengthen industry links with the UAE and wider Gulf region.

Ireland is a global aviation hub with around half of the world’s leased commercial aircraft leased and managed from Ireland. As well as being a major player in commercial aviation leasing and finance, Ireland has built a reputation across other areas including flight training, software development, manufacture, marketing and HR solutions. According to ‘Ireland’s Aerospace Industry Directory’ published by Enterprise Ireland, The Industrial Development Authority, Shannon Development and the Federation of Aerospace Enterprises in Ireland, the aviation industry compromises over 230 companies employing a highly skilled workforce and meets the needs of airlines, manufacturers and other aviation corporations and investors across world markets.

Patrick Hennessy, Irish Ambassador to the UAE said: ”the high number of Irish companies exhibiting at the Dubai Airshow, coupled with their individual success in the region so far, is proof that Ireland is an aviation leader. I believe there are some exciting opportunities for further collaboration between Ireland and the UAE in the aviation sector long into the future.’’

Rachel Kouyoumdjis, Market Adviser at Enterprise Ireland MENA, added: “Ireland is a global leader in the aerospace sector today with a truly unique story starting when the first non-stop transatlantic flight landed in 1919, to being home to one of Europe’s largest airlines. This is an excellent opportunity to celebrate the links between Ireland and the UAE in a sector where both countries are undoubtedly pioneers. The UAE offers a dynamic market for Irish companies seeking to expand and source new partners to develop their business and our exhibitors are already establishing a strong presence in the region.”
Exhibiting companies

• Aero Inspection International: An EASA/FAA 145 approved Borescope/Boreblending company

• Aerospace Software Developments Limited: Market leaders in the provision of RFID-based solutions in aviation

• Atlantic Flight Training Academy: Ireland’s largest, and one of Europe’s leading, independent flight training organizations

• Boxever: A predictive marketing and customer intelligence company for travel retailers

• Crewlink & Dalmac Recruitment & Aviation Services: One of Europe’s largest aviation HR service companies

• Eirtech Aviation: A world class aviation engineering services and aircraft painting services company

• Spectrum Aviation: A specialist provider of qualified and experienced pilots to the global airline industry

• The Botany Weaving Mill: An Airbus and Boeing approved OEM of aviation carpet and fabric

Company sound bites

“As one of Europe’s leading independent flight schools, Atlantic Flight Training Academy is extremely proud of all 1200 pilots who have graduated in the last 20 years. It is particularly rewarding to see how many of our pilots have gone on to fly long haul with first class Gulf airlines such as Emirates, Qatar and Etihad. We are delighted to be exhibiting under the “Aviation in Ireland” banner with Enterprise Ireland in Dubai, as it affords us the invaluable opportunity to forge bonds with these airlines and foster our relationship in the future.” Mark J Casey, CEO and Head of Training AFTA.

“Boxever, the leading predictive marketing and customer intelligence company for travel, is used within some of the largest Gulf airlines to power real-time customer identification, better product and service recommendations through intelligent decisioning, and omni-channel personalisation. Our groundbreaking intelligence platform enables clients to transform the way they interact with their passengers and to have more personal, meaningful and more productive engagements with each of them.” Dave O’Flanagan, CEO and Co-Founder, Boxever.

“Crewlink and Dalmac Recruitment & Aviation Services have been providing HR Outsourcing Solutions throughout Europe for over 25 years. We are excited to be entering the MENA market with the help of Enterprise Ireland to offer our services to the aviation industry. We have a proven track record working with one of Europe’s leading airlines and we believe the aviation industry in UAE and the wider MENA market can benefit greatly from the wide range of HR services we provide.” Ryan Moffett, Director, Dalmac Recruitment and Aviation Services.

”Spectrum Aviation have developed a unique way of saving airlines money for their senior flight crew recruitment with a screening process that will achieve 90% acceptance, thereby taking cost away from the airline and getting aircraft in the air faster. In conjunction with Finnair Flight Training Academy, Spectrum Aviation have also launched a new recruitment tool called “Reverse Green”, which can evaluate pilots ability to fly more environmentally and save around 1% of fuel. We believe these tools will be of great benefit to Gulf airlines and the exhibition gives us the opportunity to meet with potential partners and discuss their implementation on a local level.’’ Neil Fraser, Business Development Manager, Spectrum Aviation.

”Botany has developed a unique fibre optic carpet system for Emirates’ new A380 and B777 aircraft deliveries, which is the next phase of the ”Starry Sky’’ glass fibre interior for First Class Suites, and the product is now in service with five B777 and four A380s. We also supply 95% of Etihad interior including the new B787 and A380, as well as carpet and fabric to other Gulf airlines Fly Dubai, Gulf Air, Royal Jordanian and Air Arabia.’’ Myles Hobbs, Head of Sales EMEA, Botany Weaving.

”Eirtech Aviation is pleased to be involved in events in the region such as the Dubai Airshow and other Enterprise Ireland initiatives, which further strengthen the relationship between our strong client bases in the Gulf and Ireland. We are proud that clients across the world continue to have faith in the strong skill sets and expertise of both our Dublin and Shannon facilities.’’ Andrew Richardson, Sales Director, Eirtech Aviation (an IAC Company).

”Shannon based Aero Inspection International has made significant moves into the wide-body market in the Gulf. The company has just gained approval to inspect the General Electric GE90 fitted to the Boeing 777, the Airbus A380’s GP7200, as well as the ground-breaking General Electric GEnx which will soon be fitted to the 747-800 and the Dreamliner. These approvals come as Aero Inspection secures major service deals with Middle-Eastern leasing companies. Taking the leap into the Gulf is a natural progression for us and you can be sure you will be seeing a lot of Aero Inspection in the Gulf States for years to come.” Owen Bagnell, Head of Operations, Aero Inspection International.

“ASD are delighted to attend the 2015 Dubai Airshow. It gives us an excellent opportunity to meet our customers and partners from the Gulf region and to announce the upcoming release of version 5.0 of our RFIDAero suite of products. RFIDAero allows airlines, OEMs, and MROs to perform a wide range of activities – on-aircraft component tracking and security sweeps, location and status tracking of assets, components, people and documentation on ground, and the printing and RFID encoding of tags. RFIDAero 5.0 supports iOS, Android and Windows OS and runs on smartphone, phablet, tablet and ToughPad devices.” Dave Browne, Managing Director, Aerospace Software Developments.