Acropolis Aviation appoints new Ground Operations Manager

Monday 21st October 2019

Acropolis Aviation, the UK VVIP executive charter operator based at Farnborough Airport, is pleased to formally welcome Mark Bird as Ground Operations Manager.

Mark joins Acropolis from Air Tanker, the PFI initiative formed by Airbus, Babcock, Rolls/Royce, Thales and Cobham, operating 14 Airbus A330-200 Voyager aircraft. At Air Tanker, Mark was based out of Brize Norton as an Operations Duty Manager for five years, managing the worldwide day-to-day operations of both civil and military aircraft and managing multi-role operations, liaising with commercial airlines, representatives of the Government and the Royal Flight.

“Mark is a welcome addition to our team with his multi-faceted operational experience gained in commercial airline, freight and airport operations,” said Acropolis CEO Jonathan Bousfield.

After three decades in the RAF acquiring the discipline of getting a job done well, on time, working as part of a team, Mark’s follow-on commercial roles included being a member of the executive team behind the service launch of African regional carrier Fly Africa. He served as airport manager of Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan, moving from DHL, where as Operations Manager, he was responsible for the Middle East region.

“Acropolis Aviation is an established, highly regarded luxury charter operator and joining its team is a great privilege,” said Mark. “It is a very exciting time in Acropolis’ history as we prepare for the arrival of G-KELT in the coming months.” The industry’s first ACJ320neo is currently undergoing cabin outfitting to Acropolis’ unique Alberto Pinto design at AMAC Aerospace’s Basel, Switzerland facility.

New flight planning system - from myairops

An early priority for Mark is to oversee the introduction of a next-generation flight planning solution, which comes on line in November. The system is being introduced ahead of the ACJ320neo’s arrival. Following a comprehensive evaluation across various alternative suppliers, Acropolis opted to renew with myairops in a nod to its attractive new features and its ease of use between Acropolis’ UK and US operations.

“We’re pleased to appoint myairops as our new flight operations software providers. myairops Flight was selected owing to its highly protective security of data, GDPR compliance, ease of data migration and HMI design." said Mark Bird. "We’re looking forward to a long-term collaboration," he added.

Part of the Gama Aviation Group of companies, myairops is a full aviation ecosystem providing SaaS (Software as a Service) and mobile app solutions to manage flight and ground operations, handling, FBO and CAMO needs. It will deliver full flexibility when integrating Acropolis Aviation’s other systems, providing a versatile and comprehensive solution for their operations.

Acropolis Aviation is at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas 21-24 October.

Exhibiting at Booth C9624

myairops is exhibiting on Booth N4035

https://myairops.com

About Acropolis Aviation

Acropolis Aviation is a leading luxury charter operator based at Farnborough Airport, with a complementary sales office in Fort Lauderdale, USA. Headed by CEO Jonathan Bousfield, the company employs 28 personnel. Its flagship Airbus ACJ319 G-NOAH entered service in March 2010 and the company has gained a reputation for excellent service in the high-end charter market. Acropolis holds Wyvern Wingman safety accreditation.

G-NOAH is regarded in the industry as the ultimate luxurious charter aircraft. Its cabin, designed by Alberto Pinto, features an open-plan forward lounge and, intimate rear lounge, separated by a mid-cabin conference and dining room. The private master bedroom features a king size bed, luxury en-suite bathroom and a large rectangular shower, the first to be installed in an ACJ. Seating 19 passengers, the aircraft can accommodate up to 13 on fully lie-flat beds.

Acropolis announced it would be launch customer for the Airbus ACJ320neo in May 2015.

About the Airbus ACJ320neo

The Airbus ACJ320 family currently comprises the ACJ319neo, capable of flying eight passengers 6,750 nm/12,500 km or more than 15 hours, and the ACJ320neo, which can fly up to 25 passengers 6,000 nm/11,100 km.

In addition to its new fuel-saving engines and sharklets, ACJ320neo family aircraft have the widest and tallest cabins of any business jet, without costing more to operate or taking up more ramp space.

www.acropolis-aviation.com