While the focus on New Castle Airport has centered on the has been on the departure of Frontier Airlines, the owner of flyADVANCED sees plenty of potential for future growth with or without the airline.
FlyADVANCED, headed by Regis de Ramel, is now rebranding its operations. The company headquarters is now in Delaware.
A graduate of Washington College in Chestertown, Md., de Ramel has spent in career in aviation, starting and selling an air taxi service in Rhode Island and working in sales for Cirrus aircraft.
He moved into the fixed base world with the purchase of a business at the Lancaster Airport in 2009 and later became the fixed base operator at Wings Field, in Blue Bell, Pa.
De Ramel purchased New Castle-based Aero Ways in 2014 and is now rebranding the business as flyADVANCED. The New Castle location has about 47 employees, with total employment at 90.
The new owner says the location of the New Castle airport offers room for further growth as flyADVANCED adds a wider range of services for the region’s aviation community. “It’s very centrally located, de Ramel says of the northern Delaware airport.
While the location is not always good news for commercial service (it’s a half-hour drive to Philadelphia) it opens the door for further expansion at flyADVANCED and other businesses at the airport, he noted.
De Ramel, a member of a family that was part of the early days of aviation, says flyADVANCED now offers a variety of aircraft that can be used for business charter flights as well as the usual fueling, pilot and maintenance services.
The company takes a full-service approach. It has a fleet of four corporate jets, two turboprops and nine Cirrus aircraft. The Cirrus is an aircraft with a built-in parachute system that can bring a disabled aircraft to the ground.
During an earlier visit, flyADVANCED was a busy place as crews did maintenance work on corporate jets and other aircraft. De Ramel said it was actually a quiet day at the site.
De Ramel sees room for further growth at New Castle Airport as a home for corporate aircraft with or without commercial service. Frontier recently confirmed it would not return to the airport to offer flights this winter. Instead, it has returned to Philadelphia International Airport.
Based on a 2013 report, the airport, commissioned by the Delaware Department of Transportation, 1,600 are employed at companies and organizations at the airport. managed by the Delaware River and Bay Authority. At present, room for growth is limited. “Our hangers are full,” De Ramel says. While the roster of corporate aircraft can change as corporations downsize their flights departments, De Ramel says that basing aircraft at the airport has an immediate impact on employment. One corporate jet based at the airport can result in 10 jobs, he says.
