Frederic Aguettant

CEO, Helicpass

Frederic Aguettant is an entrepreneur. Involved since 26 years in the helicopter and jet industries, he founds and heads Helipass.com since 2014, the helicopter booking start-up.
Helipass.com first starts with the helicopter booking marketplace for the impressive worldwide touristic industry. Always inovating, Helipass is running on airport transfers and on-demand flights. He has launched UberCopter in France with great success.
Digitalizing the helicopter usage is his mojo.
Today Helipass.com represents more than 650 destinations, 26 countries and 126 helicopter companies. The helicopter is becoming more friendly and accessible to everybody.
Helipass.com is transforming helicopter sightseeing market with eVTOLS. It represents 6 millions passengers per year. “For 2030, we hope to be carbon neutral by helping operators to do the move. The software platform will be open to all operators as white label to scale their business”.
Frederic Aguettant was founder of Paris Helicopter, President of Helifrance, President of Aviaxess, Bombardier representative and is Colonel (R) French Air Force.

Oliver Althoff

Managing Director - Head of North America, Seabury Corporate Finance

Oliver Althoff is currently a Managing Director at Seabury Capital advising clients in the aviation, aerospace and defense industries. Over the past seventeen years, Oliver has been a senior investment and corporate banker as well as corporate finance executive. Prior to joining Seabury Capital, Oliver held the financial officer role of Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets & Treasury for Waypoint Leasing, a private-equity owned, global helicopter leasing company.
Prior to joining Waypoint, Oliver was a Director for CIT’s Transportation principal finance business, originating and structuring financing solutions across the debt capital structure and supporting M&A advisory transaction in A/D/G. Oliver raised capital in buy-out leveraged cash flow transactions as well as asset-based and -backed transactions for acquisition financing, growth capital and general corporate purposes. These financings included senior, second-lien, mezzanine and uni-tranche transactions. His clients included middle market private equity firms, aviation and aerospace and defense industry suppliers. Separately, Oliver supported several sell-side M&A transactions in the sector for both direct clients and sponsors active in the industry.
Previously, Oliver was part of GE Capital’s executive management trainee program assessing risk and analyzing financing opportunities for reorganizing businesses, predominantly in the aviation and aerospace industry. Before that, he was a new product and technology development manager in consumer finance for Bank of America, after beginning his career in management consulting at Mitchell Madison Group focusing on the telecom/IT and financial institutions sectors.
Oliver received his B.A. Economics and M.P.A. in Political/Macro-Economy from Cornell University, and a M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. After emigrating solo from Germany to the U.S., during High School, he lives today with his wife and three children in Connecticut.

Con Barber

Chief Investment Officer, Macquarie Rotorcraft

Con Barber has twenty years’ experience in the aviation sector, filling a wide variety of technical, project management and strategic management roles. Con is currently Chief Investment Officer at Macquarie Rotorcraft, responsible for strategy, pricing, risk, and credit. Prior to joining Macquarie, Con was global head of sales at Waypoint Leasing and previously led Waypoint’s sales effort in Africa/Middle East. Previously Con held roles in Rose Aviation, and the Irish Defence Forces, including secondment to the United Nations, the European Union and the Swedish Air Force, in various aviation leadership roles and overseas deployments. Con holds a primary degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Queen’s University and post graduate qualifications including an MBA and MSc from Smurfit Business School, Dublin, and an MA from the National University of Ireland. Con speaks conversational French and Swedish.

Steffen Bay

Head of Market Development-Latin America, Vertical Aerospace

Steffen has joined Vertical in January 2022 he is based in Brazil where he will be responsible for leading the implementation of business
development activities to open-up the LATAM market further for Vertical. As the former Chief
Executive Officer of NHV, a worldwide specialised B-to-B helicopter services business, Steffen will
also be Vertical’s expert on the helicopter market and opportunity. Steffen has over 20 years’ experience in the aviation and financial industry, having worked in senior roles at NHV, Era Helicopters, now Bristow Group and Airbus in Europe, Asia, North and South America.

Alex Brown

Director, Drone Services Skyports

Alex leads up the Drone Services business of Skyports and is responsible growing its presence globally across drone delivery and surveillance operations for its world leading customers. Skyports has been responsible for numerous UK and world firsts in the drone delivery space, including working with the NHS and Royal Mail on ground-breaking projects in the UK. Prior to Skyports, Alex was based in Australia with the airline Virgin Australia.

Miguel Carrasco

SVP, Operations & Supply Chain CHC Helicopter

Mr. Carrasco was appointed Senior Vice President, Operations and Supply Chain in September 2019. He joined CHC in 2016 with 25 years of leadership experience in procurement, supply chain and technical operations. Prior to CHC, Mr. Carrasco worked for a range of complex and industry leading companies, including as Head of Global Strategic Sourcing and Business Intelligence at Conoco Phillips and Managing Director of Technical Procurement at American Airlines. Mr. Carrasco holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and an MBA from Arizona State University.

Nicolas Chabée

Vice President, Sales & Product Marketing Pratt & Whitney Canada

Nicolas Chabée was appointed Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Helicopter Engines, at Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) in December 2017.

In his current role, Nicolas provides inclusive leadership and guides the development of aggressive strategies to expand P&WC’s helicopter market activities. This means acting as executive liaison with the global community of small, medium and large helicopter operators, defining and coordinating product concepts and establishing product design and development requirements. Nicolas also leads the product marketing and sales activities for the company’s helicopter segment and provides executive level contact with helicopter Original Equipment Operators (OEMs).

Nicolas joined P&WC in 2006 with seven years experience with Dassault Aviation. He assumed positions of increasing responsibility within the Customer Service organization at P&WC, serving for five years as General Manager for Helicopter Programs before being appointed Director, APU Marketing & Customer Service in February 2016.

Nicolas holds a masters’s degree in engineering from École nationale supérieure de l’aéronautique et de l’espace from Toulouse, France and an MBA from the Saïd Business School at Oxford University in England.

Tony Cramp

Vice President Aircraft Shell Aircraft

Tony was appointed as Shell’s VP Aircraft and Managing Director Shell Aircraft in May 2016.

With Shell since in 2003, he has global experience in working with aircraft operators supporting oil and gas operations, undertaking assurance, air accident investigations and providing specialist advice to Shell’s extensive business stakeholder group. Championing initiatives to enable safe and efficient operations in some of the most diverse and challenging environments, he has work closely with OEMs on aircraft design specifications and represents the Company on several industry and national regulatory bodies.

Prior to joining Shell, he served 19yrs in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot and instructor, commanded a Naval Air Squadron and a Warship and served as the media spokesman for overseas military operations.

Sharon Desfor

Chairman, HeliValue$

Sharon Desfor, FASA, is Chairman of HeliValue$, Inc., the world’s most trusted helicopter appraisal firm, and publisher of The Official Helicopter Blue Book®, the accepted standard for helicopter resale pricing information.

Sharon is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), the highest honor ASA bestows. The ASA College of Fellows is comprised of Accredited Senior Appraisers who have been recognized by their peers for their contributions to ASA and the appraisal profession. She is a past international president of ASA, who served on multiple committees and edited several publications for ASA.
Sharon is past Chair of the Helicopter Foundation International and of the Helicopter Association International’s (HAI) Finance & Leasing Committee, and edited HAI’s finance handbook, Helicopter Funding: Assembling the Pieces of the Puzzle.

Sharon has been moving HeliValue$’ appraisal work onto the broad backs of her staff for more than 5 years now, but she still performs appraisals in a few more specialized areas: bankruptcies, estate settlements, mergers and acquisitions, insurance subrogation, and litigation support. She still enjoys teaching finance people about the helicopter industry, and helicopter people about the finance industry, but more than that she now prefers teaching both of the above about the appraisal profession.

Sharon is respected and warmly welcomed everywhere in the helicopter and aviation finance industries. She has published over 50 seminars, webinars and articles for more than twenty different organizations and publications.

You can find Sharon’s profile and groups at www.linkedin.com/in/sharondesfor.

Gérard Deterne

CEO & Founder, Pteron Valuations

As an economist by training, Gérard Deterne formed PTERON Valuations in 2021 with the intent to build new valuation services upon many years of experience as a Business Developer in the aerospace industry.
Prior to creating PTERON Valuations, Gérard worked for Airbus Helicopters in Marignane, France, where he developed inhouse appraisal & valuation expertise, put together marketing campaigns towards lessors and lenders, engineered lease-based projects, organized briefings and webinars for the investors community and promoted sales boosters in support of the helicopter lessor’s business and the banking community.
Gérard has also worked in the UAV Business Unit at Airbus Defense & Space where he contributed to the development of the drone and UAV business while managing all aspects of market analysis and UAV asset management strategies.
Gérard has been an Accredited Senior Appraiser – Machinery & Technical Specialties – Helicopters, for some years now. He is also a member of the American Society of Appraisers.

Sara Dhariwal

Valuations Analyst, Ascend by Cirium

Sara joined Ascend by Cirium in 2016, after six years in the EMEA sales team managing relationships with the majority of EMEA lessors and aircraft traders. Sara specializes in commercial aircraft and helicopter valuations, and is also responsible for liaising with the market regarding developments and providing thought-leadership input, particularly for the helicopter space. Sara holds a BAHons in Business from the University of Westminster and a CIRM from the Institute of Risk Management

Emmanuel Dupuy

President, Aero Asset

Emmanuel began selling fixed and rotary wing aircraft in 2004. In 2009, Emmanuel launched a firm dedicated to helicopter sales, which later merged with a world leading aircraft brokerage in 2013. Emmanuel has completed in excess of 100 aircraft transactions, across the globe.

Alastair Fallon

ASA Accredited Senior Appraiser – MTS Helicopter Assets, IBA Group

Alastair joined IBA in 2015 and is responsible for IBA’s Helicopter appraisals. With over thirty years of aviation experience in civilian and military operations, Alastair regularly represents IBA at international events hosted by aviation groups, financial bodies and helicopter manufacturers.

Alastair previously served as a commissioned Officer in the RAF before retiring; research work into ETOPS aircraft development by Boeing and Airbus at City University followed, then he became course director of the undergraduate program for cadet pilots on the BSc Air Transport Operations (which included training up to commercial pilot license standard). Alastair is an elected member of the Royal Aeronautical Society (MRAeS) and holds the (ASA) Accredited Senior Appraiser status in Materials & Technical Specialties – Aircraft’ (MTS-Aircraft).

David Fowkes

Managing Director – Head of Aviation and Aerospace Investment Banking, Raymond James

David Fowkes joined Raymond James in 2020 as a managing director and head of the Aviation and Aerospace sector team in the Raymond James Diversified Industrials investment banking group. Mr. Fowkes has 25 years of experience in investment banking and aviation and aerospace, including with clients in commercial and corporate fixed wing; helicopter; aviation leasing and aerospace maintenance; and repair and manufacturing companies. Mr. Fowkes has led or participated in dozens of assignments in over 30 countries, including aviation and aircraft financing and trading, in-court and out-of-court restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic transactions. Before joining Raymond James, Mr. Fowkes worked in capital markets, M&A and restructuring at Imperial Capital. He also had multiple assignments in investment banking and restructuring at Seabury Group, and served as director of M&A and integration at helicopter operator Bristow Group. Additionally, Mr. Fowkes served as a senior member of Deutsche Bank’s special situation group focusing on aviation related investments, lending and advisory; worked on M&A and capital markets coverage at Lehman Brothers; and focused on capital markets structuring and execution at Citigroup and Salomon Brothers. Mr. Fowkes received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his MBA in finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Roberto Garavaglia

SVP Strategy & Innovation, Leonardo Helicopters

Roberto Garavaglia holds a MSc in Aeronautical Engineering at the Milan Polytechnic and is now SVP Strategy & Innovation at Leonardo – Helicopter Division, a leading helicopter OEM with main industrial activities in Italy, UK, Poland, Switzerland and the USA.
He led AgustaWestland Marketing from 2003 to 2013, contributing, with his Italian and UK-based teams, to product definition, user segment development and sales achievements in both civil and military international markets.
In Dec. 1998, he joined Agusta SpA acting as area manager for civil sales in several Central and Northern European countries.
Between Jun. 1991 and Nov. 1998 he was in Toulouse at ATR, the regional aircraft manufacturer, holding several posts in Marketing and Sales, eventually leading the Airline Marketing team.
In 1989 he joined Aero Engineering, an aeronautical design Company in Milan, as a system and structural engineering analyst on several civil and military programmes.

Nick Hall

Director, Effective Outcomes Independent Aviation Industry Advisor

With over 30 years of dedicated aviation experience, Nick is a commercially savvy and strategic aviation management consultant. Nick is an entrepreneurial specialist advisor offering end-to-end strategic, operational and commercial aviation expertise to a diverse global client base of established multinationals, mid size operators, innovative technology developers and start-ups.

Nick began his career in the military flying helicopters and managing operations for the Australian Army before moving client side where, over the next 15+ years he led strategic and transformational projects for global helicopter operations, MROs, UAM and drone customers/service providers around the world.

Nick has an MBA from Melbourne School of Business, and a B.Sc in Aviation.

Steve Hanna

President & CEO Protective Packaging Corporation

The company was initially a division of an International Freight Forwarding company reporting to Mr. Hanna that helped package freight that was being shipped around the world. Steve had the opportunity to acquire this division as the freight forwarding company was being sold.

Twenty-five years later Protective Packaging Corporation has grown to become one of the industry’s leader in providing long term packaging solutions for the prevention of corrosion, mold, mildew, static electricity and other airborne qualities. The company is one of the first as well as one of the few in its industry with a current ISO Certification.

Protective Packaging Company’s major customers include Boeing, Airbus, Bell, Pratt Whitney, United Technologies, GE, NASA, Timken, American Airlines, L3, Lockheed-Martin, Rolls-Royce, Raytheon, Bristow, ERA, Babcock, Vector, Space X, Northrop Grumman, Turbomecca, and the U.S. military to name a few.

Protective Packaging’s success is based on their ability to provide custom made packaging applications that are capable of controlling the atmosphere around the part regardless of its size or location. Yet, at the same time be the most efficient and economical solution available on the market. Be it the F-35 Joint Stryker Fighter being shipped around the world for testing, a commercial aircraft engine sitting out on tarmacs for long periods of time, or entire helicopter fleets that must be protected from all the elements while they are grounded in harsh conditions, Protective Packaging has it covered.

Kieran Hannan

SVP Technical and Fleet The Milestone Aviation Group Ltd

Kieran Hannan is Senior Vice President Technical Operations and Fleet Management of Milestone Aviation, overseeing new aircraft deliveries, fleet operations, transitions and fleet oversight of over 300 rotorcraft in operation with over 40 customers and in more than 30 countries.
Kieran has over 20 years of experience in the helicopter industry including senior roles with Operators, Distributors, Lessors and MRO services providers.
Prior to joining Milestone in 2018, Kieran served as Vice President and General Manager of Precision Aviation Group (PAG) and been responsible for the Canadian Division encompassing Fixed Wing and Rotorcraft Component Sales, Customer Support, Logistics and Operations.
He was also a member of the PAG Group executive leadership team and the Transport Canada Accountable Executive. Kieran has also led the Commercial and Customer Support Department at Heli-One Canada for four years, his global team were responsible for all internal and external MRO support bids, PBH agreements, dynamic component work and pricing.
A graduate of the University of Limerick, Kieran holds a bachelor’s in Aeronautical Engineering.

Joseph Hawke

Chairman & CEO Uniflight Global

Joseph A. Hawke is President, CEO and Chairman of Uniflight, LLC, Grand Prairie, Texas, and founder and Chairman of Hawke Aerospace Group, Malvern, Pennsylvania, a private equity firm that is actively pursuing platform company acquisitions in the aerospace industry, with a special focus on the rotorcraft segment of the market.
Prior to forming Hawke Aerospace Group in 2007, Hawke was General Partner of Meridian Venture Partners and MVP II, Radnor, Pennsylvania where he was a Senior Member of the investment team for a firm with $200+ million cumulative capital under management. He began his tenure at MVP II in 2001 (now known as MVP Capital), where he was instrumental in redirecting the investment strategy towards middle market buyouts with deep industry access. Hawke was active on 7 portfolio company Boards, Chairman of 3. Hawke was responsible for
Innovating the aerospace investment practice at MVP, beginning with Keystone Helicopter Corporation in 2002. He completed a 2nd acquisition Composite Technology Inc. (CTI, based in Grand Prairie, TX) in 2004, then combined Keystone and CTI to prepare for sale. Executed successful stock sale to Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in December 2005.
Negotiating the acquisition of Air Evac Lifeteam which closed in July 2004 with a majority equity co-investment from Brockway Moran & Partners. Led to formation of Air Medical Group Holdings in connection with a series of aquisitions of related air medical Part 135 operations (Critical Air Medicine, Southwest Helicopters, Med-Trans, et al). CIBC-led recap in 2006. Bain agreed to acquire AMGH for approximately $1B in August 2010.
Taking the role of acting CEO to lead the turnaround of Boston-based managed care services company MCMC, then recruited new industry veteran CEO. Effected a total of 9 acquisitions including platform investment, and raised over $20 million in senior credit facilities and $9 million of subordinated debt.
From May 1999 – September 2001 Hawke was Partner and Co-Founder, NewSpring Ventures, L.P., Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, a $90+ million venture capital firm.
Hawke began his career as a Commercial Banking Officer at First Fidelity Bank, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Hawke holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree (finance concentration) from Temple University Graduate School of Business and Management, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree (philosophy major) from Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.

Will Heyburn

CFO & Head of Corporate Development BLADE Urban Air Mobility, Inc.

Will Heyburn is Blade’s Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development. Prior to Blade, Mr. Heyburn served in various capacities at Redbird Capital Partners, a principal investment firm focused on providing long-term capital in growth equity, build-up and structured equity investments. Prior to RedBird, Mr. Heyburn was a member of the U.S. Credit Investment Team at Oak Hill Advisors, L.P., where he focused on high-yield and distressed credit investments in Aerospace, Retail and Industrial companies. Prior to Oak Hill, Mr. Heyburn was a member of the investment banking group at Moelis and Company, where he worked primarily on restructuring transactions including American Airlines’ bankruptcy and subsequent merger with U.S. Airways.

Will received an A.B. in Government from Harvard University, where he was a four-year varsity letterman in men’s swimming.

Jaspal Jandu

Chief Executive Officer, LCI

Jaspal Jandu is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LCI and is responsible for running all facets of the business, including strategy and planning.
He was previously LCI’s Chief Financial Officer and played an instrumental role in developing its proven leasing platform and robust financial strategy. He spearheaded the development of the company’s partnerships with many leading financial institutions.
Prior to joining LCI in 2007, Jaspal worked for Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for numerous aviation investments. During this role, he transferred to the then in-house lessor, AWAS, remaining with the company until its divestment to Terra Firma. Jaspal has also held posts with the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) and has an established track record in the aviation industry.
Jaspal graduated from Essex University with a degree in Economics and completed his Economics Masters in 1996. Jaspal is also an alumnus of Harvard, Wharton, and London Business School, where he has completed a number of Executive Development programmes.

Juliana Kiraly

Business Development Lead - Europe Eve Urban Air Mobility

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

Jason Kmiecik

President, Helivalue$

Jason joined the HeliValue$ team in 2009 after serving the in the United States Marine Corp for ten years. While serving Jason worked as a mechanic on various models of airplanes and helicopters such as the F/A 18, C-130, T-34, CH-46, CH-53, and UH-1N, reaching the rank of Sergeant and becoming a Quality Assurance Inspector serving in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In the seven years, Jason has been part of the HeliValue$ team, he has risen from Staff Analyst to Chief Appraiser and now holds the position of VP Operations. He is editor of The Official Helicopter Blue Book and responsible for a growing team of appraisers. His responsibilities include consulting with financers, lenders, private equity firms, operators, OEM’s and Insurance companies on the state of the market as well as its opportunities in the market. Jason is an Accredited Senior Appraiser in the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), holding accreditations in both Machinery & Equipment and Aircraft Specific designations.

Damian Kysely

Head of Infrastructure, EMEA Skyports

Damian heads up Skyports Infrastructure business in Europe and the Middle East and is responsible for site acquisition strategy, infrastructure development and vertiport operations. He focuses on developing partnerships with large infrastructure owners and operators, institutional landlords, eVTOL OEMs and aircraft operators. In his previous role at Skyports, Damian led the design and construction of the world’s first vertiport in Singapore in 2019 with Volocopter. Damian worked as a transport technology consultant in London prior to joining the Advanced Air Mobility industry in 2017.

Jas Lamba

Head, Global Corporate Strategy & M&A CHC Helicopters

Jas is a finance executive with extensive experience in corporate development, strategy, planning, finance & M&A lifecycle. At CHC he is responsible for leading GTM strategy, strategic partnership acceleration, new market introduction and diversification, playing a critical role in delivering value. He has worked to define major initiatives and has lead business negotiations with various stakeholders across the globe. As head of M&A he plays a key role in identifying, structuring and executing transactions including acquisitions, divestitures, equity investments and JVs.

Frank Liemandt

Show Director, EUROPEAN ROTORS

Dr. Frank Liemandt Consulting offers more than 25 years of experience in public relations, sales, marketing, and politics. Currently the show director of EUROPEAN ROTORS, The VTOL Show and Safety Conference on behalf of the European Helicopter Association, Dr. Liemandt advises subject matter experts, trade associations, and public clients focusing primarily on the aerospace industry. He is also a board member and spokesperson for the German Helicopter Association (Deutscher Hubschrauber Verband, or DHV).

Stephen Lyons

Chief Development Officer, AYR Logistics Ltd

Stephen Lyons is Chief Development Officer of AYR Aviation Ltd, a humanitarian aviation and logistics services company that provides support to the United Nations agencies, World Food Programme, Governments, and NGOs. In this role, Stephen is responsible for enabling the business to successfully deliver on its business objectives by combining strategic thinking and execution through the development of strategic business plans, raising finance, M&A and in-house consultancy. In October 2022 he was appointed CEO of Advanced Humanitarian Solutions Ltd, to lead the group’s development of drone technology in a humanitarian setting.
Stephen has over 30 years’ of senior and “C-Level” management experience in finance and investment banking with a particular focus and passion for the aviation, transportation, logistics, and the travel and leisure sectors. He has a successful track record of innovative business development and creating new business divisions, products, markets and defining, implementing and delivering strategic goals and closing complex transactions.
He has advised several international firms in both the public and private sectors and spent most of my career working in diverse international markets covering Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. He has extensive experience of working in international business and in multi-national and multi-cultural environments as well as training and mentoring staff.
He has the financial, analytical and transaction management skills necessary to implement and complete complex projects, from transaction structuring to contract negotiations. He also believes in applying a robust risk management framework to enhance the continuity of the organisation.
Stephen has built multiple businesses from scratch and is a driver for new initiatives and projects. He enjoys challenging assignments where he can develop and implement appropriate innovative business strategies for penetrating new markets.

Clark McGinn

Principal Uplifting Advice

Clark has been active in the mission-critical helicopter sector since 2004, closing over USD 8Bn in transactions. Uniquely, he has held senior roles leading a global bank’s rotary business (at RBS), creating a captive lessor/asset finance hub in Dublin for the largest helicopter operator (CHC), and building out the international network of relationship managers at the biggest independent lessor (Waypoint).
He now acts as a trusted advisor to significant investors across the spectrum of the helicopter industry and is a regular keynote speaker at Helicopter Investor (and other conferences).

Beyond helicopters, Clark is Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies in the University of Glasgow, having completed his PhD there on the history of the Burns Supper. Amongst his published books, and academic articles, his popular The Ultimate Burns Supper Book (Luath, £7.99) was first published in 2006 and is now in its Third Edition and is based on his experience having spoken at over two hundred Burns Suppers in twenty countries.

Crispin Maunder

Executive Chairman LCI

Crispin Maunder joined LCI in 2006 to establish its leasing platform, serving as CEO until January 2012 when he was appointed Executive Chairman.
Crispin has almost 50 years’ experience in aviation. Upon graduation from Imperial College, University of London in 1971 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, he entered Court Line Aviation the then leading UK charter airline. In 1974 he joined the marketing team at British Aircraft Corporation concentrating on the BAC One-Eleven programme. This was then followed by a period working in the Middle East and Africa with Autair Limited, a helicopter operator and aircraft trader.
In 1977 he joined Short Brothers to lead their sales efforts in Africa and the Middle East, taking on European Sales in 1983, before being appointed General Manager – Aircraft Trading Division, to drive Short Brothers’ move into aircraft leasing and trading.
He joined Ansett Worldwide in 1989 as Regional Sales Director – Europe, before being appointed as EVP Sales and Marketing in 1991 to head up the lessor’s global sales and marketing activities. Subsequently he also took on management of the lessor’s technical capability. In 2002 he was appointed EVP – Strategic Development assuming responsibility for the company’s strategic planning and business development processes, and a member of Ansett Worldwide Aviation Holdings board.
Crispin is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Patrick Moore

Partner Watson Farley & Williams

Patrick is a Partner in the Assets & Structured Finance group at Watson Farley & Williams. He specialises in finance transactions and restructurings across the aviation sector, with a particular expertise in transactions in the helicopter market.
He regularly advises banks, funds, borrowers and operators on cross-border syndicated and private placement loans, restructurings involving more than one class of debt, leasing transactions, export-credit backed financings, preferred equity investments and structured products. Patrick has worked in the firm’s London, Greece and Singapore offices and has worked in-house on secondment to a banking client.
Patrick’s recent work in the aviation sector includes acting on headline restructuring transactions including acting for creditors to Virgin Atlantic Airways in its recent restructuring by way of a UK Restructuring Plan which was awarded ‘Europe Restructuring Deal of the Year 2020’ by IFLR 1000, ‘European Recapitalisation Deal of the Year 2020’ by Airline Economics, ‘Europe Deal of the Year 2020’ by Airfinance Journal and ‘Best Restructuring Deal of the Year 2020’ by Ishka. He also advised on the Norwegian Air Shuttle bond restructuring, which was awarded ‘Overall Capital Markets Deal of the Year 2019’ by Airfinance Journal and ‘Best Restructuring Deal of the Year 2019’ by Ishka.
He is also named on Airline Economics’ prestigious 40 under 40 list (2020), which recognises the most outstanding individuals in that age group active in the aviation finance and leasing industry.

Sébastien Moulin

Head of Europe & Americas, Milestone Aviation

Sébastien is responsible for leading a global team of professionals to deliver for our customers and achieve growth targets, portfolio placements, budgets and customer service resolution, with a primary geographic focus on customers in Europe and the Americas regions. As Head of Europe & Americas, he is also responsible for the Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo OEM relationships and will lead the discussions and negotiations to ensure the execution of Milestone’s portfolio strategy.
Sébastien has been in the Helicopter Sales industry for 15 years. He started his career in South of France with Airbus Helicopters and moved quickly to Airbus Helicopters South East Asia where he was responsible for Helicopter Sales in the civilian markets of Philippines and Indonesia. He then joined Bell Helicopter as Regional Sales Manager in Europe where he successfully introduced the B429 into the Western European market with major breakthrough in France/Switzerland/UK. Sebastien holds a Master Degree in International Business from the Kedge Business school in France.

Jeremy Parkin

Managing Director, Parapex Media

Jeremy Parkin is Managing Director of Parapex Media, a specialist market intelligence agency for the aviation industry. The activities of Parapex Media include an airframe-by-airframe database of the world’s turbine helicopters, a Press/PR function primarily targetting the helicopter and corporate jet industries, a social media management agency and an industry news website.

The Parapex Media turbine helicopter database brings together Jeremy’s IT skills and deep knowledge of the helicopter industry. He made his first helicopter data sale while studying Computer Science at university, and with a research team has built up an enviable research system which monitors updates across social media, industry news, flight activity data and close monitoring of every OEM’s production lines. The constant trawling for information has also led to global data files on landing pad locations, operating contracts, superyachts and helicopter sales inventories. The data is made available via bespoke marketing reports and data download.

Jeremy founded the world’s first news website for the helicopter industry in 1999, and today that is manifest as HeliHub.com – covering civil and military news from all corners of the globe, as well as a wealth of safety data and documentation. The news website provides research data to the database, and the database research identifies news stories which would otherwise not be surfaced.

Olivier Piot

CEO & Founder, NOVA CAPITAL

Olivier founded the NOVA CAPITAL Group in 2002, a privately owned investment and advisory group of companies fully dedicated to asset finance.
Acting as group CEO, Olivier turned the NOVA CAPITAL HELICOPTERS division into a leading globally recognized helicopter lessor with a proven 20 years track-record within the industry. With a current fleet of 100 helicopter and aircraft in operation, the company reached a total fleet value of circa 400 M$ as at 2021 year-end. NOVA CAPITAL HELICOPTERS is a unique full service and highly adaptable leasing platform, exclusively dedicated to the on-shore helicopter services industry.
Prior to the inception of NOVA CAPITAL Group, Olivier held some senior management positions within a leading French banking institution, including among others, Senior Vice President and head of Structured Asset Finance practice. He headed a team of professionals in charge of sourcing, structuring, and managing complex asset finance transactions in various sectors such as aviation, shipping, rail, energy, and real estate, mostly using optimized structured leasing solutions.
Olivier started his career at the Paris Bar, working as a qualified lawyer with a US Law firm, specializing in asset finance transactions.
Olivier graduated from Institut d’Etudes Politques de Paris (IEP Paris). He holds a postgraduate degree in business and tax law from University of Paris II and was subsequently admitted to the Paris Bar. Olivier was also a lecturer at University of Paris IX-Dauphine for several years, and is a regular contributor at some major asset finance and leasing events.

NOVA CAPITAL
Founded in 2002, Nova Capital is a privately owned leasing company with offices in Ireland, France and Portugal.
We are a specialist helicopter lessor with an asset portfolio approaching $400m between owned and managed assets. Our portfolio is largely focused on the on-shore mission critical space.

We are very proud of our long-standing relationships with the major OEMS and selected financiers, which in turn empowers our mission to continually support our own customers’ needs by providing efficient asset financing solutions and delivering real value to their businesses.

Michael Platt

Vice Chairman, LCI

Michael Platt is Vice Chairman of LCI with responsibility for helping to shape LCI’s future in the rotary, fixed wing and other sectors. He is also an advisor to the board of LCI’s parent company, The Libra Group.
He served as Chief Executive Officer of LCI from 2012 having joined LCI in September 2011. Mike has over 30 years’ experience in the aircraft leasing industry, including three years at Aircastle as Chief Investment Officer, 15 at International Lease Finance Corporation where he rose to Senior Vice President and five years at McDonnell Douglas Finance Corporation where he served as legal counsel.
He is also a former President of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) and served on the Board of the ISTAT Foundation and the Advisory Board of Airlink.

Yesh Premkumar

Sr. Manager, Global Partnerships and Business Development Supernal

esh has always found himself at the center of developing solutions for new and 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 recently joined a new dynamic enterprise, Urban Air Mobility, a division of Hyundai Motor Group. At Hyundai’s UAM team, as Sr. Partnership Manager, he now focuses on developing and deploying blueprints for sustainable multi-modal mobility ecosystems that will create the right environment for air mobility to thrive and be successful. His objective is to create these blueprints with strategic partners at the broader market level such that it encourages standardization & interoperability, scalability, and transferability of these plans globally.
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. In all these markets he has strived to connect technology, platforms and the operational eco-system in a seamless manner through clean tech, innovation and a human-centered angle.

David Prevor

Head of Marketing, Airbus Helicopters

David Prevor leads the Marketing department in the Airbus Helicopters Global Business directorate where he is responsible to understand, anticipate & influence the market and internal stakeholders in order to bring sustainable growth.
In this role, David and his team are in charge of the future commercial & military helicopter market understanding. His team is also responsible for assessing short and medium term demand for helicopters in order to evaluate the impact on bookings and on design changes. Over the longer term David and his team forecast demand for use in defining generic helicopter design and establishing business plans for new helicopter launches. The marketing team also operates on the field, to create customer awareness and promote Airbus Helicopters solutions.
Before joining Airbus Helicopters, David was leading the Market Research and Forecasts department within the Airbus Strategy and Future Programmes directorate that he joined eleven years ago.
David began his Airbus career as a marketing analyst working on aircraft investment cash flow analysis model. He then became an IT project manager, overseeing software development for Airbus and airlines. Later he joined the Airbus flight test directorate involved in the development, validation, and certification of auto flight systems (AFS) for the Airbus A340-600/-500 and A330/A340 enhanced programs.
David graduated from the National School of Civil Aviation (ENAC) as an aeronautical engineer with a specialization in Air Transport Economy (economics, fleet planning, forecasting, financing, and statistics) and Aeronautical Techniques (flight operations, aeronautics, avionics, and control systems).

Dan Roberts

Chief Executive Officer, Lobo Leasing

Dan is Chief Executive Officer of Lobo Leasing.

Dan graduated from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and qualified as an English lawyer with the law firm Allen & Overy LLP. Dan worked in A&O’s aviation finance department advising airlines, lessors and financiers on a range of operating lease, debt, derivative, restructuring and merger transactions.

Subsequently, Dan worked with ILFC (now AerCap) where he handled the negotiation of commercial aircraft leases worldwide and managed a variety of repossessions and other contentious matters.

Tim Rolfe

CEO HeliOffshore

Tim has had an exceptional 30-year career at Bristow Helicopters as a professional helicopter pilot in offshore, SAR, military support and VIP operations; and has extensive experience across the key disciplines of large helicopter operations, pilot training and safety management systems. He rose to Director Safety (EAMEA) and Global Safety Assurance and was a Board Member for six Bristow companies.

Tim was a core founder member of HeliOffshore in 2014, co-leads HeliOffshore’s operational effectiveness workstream and was commended for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Offshore Helicopter Safety’ at HeliOffshore’s conference in 2018.

As Chief Executive Officer, Tim now leads HeliOffshore’s mission, strategy and delivery to ensure no lives are lost in offshore aviation.

Phil Seymour

President, IBA Group

Phil is President of IBA, having originally joined in 1997 to head the technical management department. He is an aviation specialist giving valuable insight into all aspects of aviation consulting.

He is a regular contributor at aviation conferences as a prominent industry authority, and has advised in a number of high profile M&A projects for clients including Goldman Sachs and Terra Firma, and as an expert witness to the High Court. His career began with British Airways as an Air Transport Engineer and he subsequently held positions in several airlines before qualifying as a Senior Appraiser in 2002. In 2018, Phil was bestowed the title of Appraiser Fellow by the ISTAT Appraisers’ International Board of Governors. The designation recognises Phil’s outstanding service to the appraisal profession for over twenty years as an ISTAT appraiser, six of which as the elected Chair.

Brad Shaen

Founder & Director, International Aviation Marketing

Brad Shaen is the Director and Founder of International Aviation Marketing Ltd. Since founding the company, he has become a global leader in helicopter sales and acquisition, especially in the offshore oil & gas and utility sector.

With almost 25 years of experience in aviation, Brad has built a strong reputation as an industry expert that provides value-added strategies to helicopter operators and financial institutions of all sizes.

Brad is the former Director of Sales for Heli-One, which is the Asset Management and Maintenance Division of CHC Helicopter Corporation. In this role, he worked with helicopter operators worldwide supporting Heli-One’s helicopter sales and leasing and maintenance and modification services. During his time at Heli-One, Brad helped launch the Heli-One brand globally to helicopter operators, financial institutions and industry participants.

Pat Sheedy

President & CEO, Milestone Aviation

Pat Sheedy is Milestone Aviation’s President and CEO. Having previously led the underwriting and portfolio management function at Milestone Aviation and having had overall risk responsibility for GE Engine Leasing and GECAS’ cargo business, Pat has 20 years of international financial services experience. He trained as a chartered accountant with Deloitte in Ireland and London, where he spent four years in a number of roles including In Audit and Assurance, Corporate Finance and Corporate Recovery, prior to joining GE in 2004.
Prior to joining Milestone, Pat spent the majority of his GE career working in Aviation Risk Management with a particular focus on Emerging Markets, holding a number of senior risk positions including Managing Director for Portfolio and Underwriting and Senior Vice President and Regional Risk Manager for GECAS in Dubai, covering the Middle East, Africa and Russia.
Pat obtained his Bachelor of Business Studies Degree from University Of Limerick Ireland and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

Mike Stones

Group Editor, Helicopter Investor

Mike Stones is group editor of Helicopter Investor, Corporate Jet Investor, Superyacht Investor, Private Art Investor and Revolution.Aero. Previous roles have included editorial director of Decision News Media, based in Montpellier in the South of France, group editor of Food Manufacture and deputy editor of Farmers Weekly. Outside work, Mike enjoys flying old aeroplanes and working on the farm he co-owns in the north of England.

William Sturm

Vice President Sales, Aero Asset

WILLIAM STURM is a business aviation specialist who has experience in all facets of the helicopter industry. He has managed aircraft fleets for major international companies and as a consultant has assisted both companies and individuals in acquiring and selling more than $500 million worth of aircraft in all corners of the globe. To discuss the Airbus markets in detail, please contact William at [email protected].

Melissa Tomkiel

President and General Counsel BLADE Urban Air Mobility, Inc.

Ms. Tomkiel has extensive experience in numerous business affairs and transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, cross-border joint ventures, aircraft and equipment leasing, purchasing and financing, public market transactions, government relations, Melissa Tomkiel is the President and General Counsel of Blade Urban Air Mobility, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDE) (“Blade”), a technology-powered, global urban air mobility platform committed to reducing travel friction by enabling cost-effective air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested ground routes in the U.S. and abroad. Ms. Tomkiel began her career at Blade in 2015 as its President of Fixed Wing Operations and General Counsel. Prior to Blade, Ms. Tomkiel was President of LIMA NY Corp., a commuter air carrier operating amphibious seaplanes and rotorcraft. From 2006 to 2010, Ms. Tomkiel was a corporate attorney in the New York office of Pryor Cashman.

Ms. Tomkiel has extensive experience in numerous business affairs and transactions, including corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, cross-border joint ventures, aircraft and equipment leasing, purchasing and financing, public market transactions, government relations, corporate governance and securities compliance.

Ms. Tomkiel earned her Juris Doctor degree from St. John’s University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Russell Torbet CBE MA FCMI

Senior Director, Search and Rescue, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia (EAMEA), Bristow Group

Russ Torbet enjoyed a 32-year career in the Royal Air Force attaining the rank of Air Commodore. Career highlights include operational tours as a fast-jet pilot and Qualified Weapons Instructor, flying the Jaguar GR1 and GR3 and the Tornado GR1 and GR4; staff tours in the Ministry of Defence, NATO Air Headquarters Ramstein and Headquarters No 1 Group; Command of No. 54(Fighter) Squadron based at RAF Coltishall; Command of RAF Lossiemouth, a Tornado GR4 Main Operating Base and a 2 year appointment as Director In-Service Support/Team Commander of the UK MOD Team in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is a graduate of the Royal Air Force Advanced Staff College and the UK Defence Academy Higher Command and Staff Course.
On leaving the RAF in December 2009, he joined Thales as the Site Training Manager for the Tornado GR4 Full Mission Simulator at RAF Lossiemouth. He joined the Bristow SAR team in December 2013 becoming Director, UK Search and Rescue in July 2016.
His key responsibilities as Director UK SAR included: Accountable Manager for all aspects of the service including Clinical Governance; acting as senior level interface with the client, the Department for Transport/Maritime Coastguard Agency; and membership of various Governance Working Groups. In March 2018, he became a Director of Bristow Helicopters Limited and on 1 September 2020 became Senior Director, Search and Rescue, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia responsible for developing Bristow’s global SAR business within this hemisphere.
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 New Year’s Honours List, holds a Master of Arts Degree in Defence Studies from King’s College London and is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.

Adam Twidell

Head of Future of Flight, OneSky Flight

After serving 10 years as a RAF pilot, Adam entered the world of private aviation as a corporate pilot. In 2008, Adam co-founded PrivateFly, which pioneered online transactions in on-demand charter. PrivateFly quickly became the leading online brand in international private charter. After 12 years of high growth, PrivateFly was acquired by Directional Aviation in 2018. Adam stepped down as CEO of PrivateFly in 2021 to focus on Future Flight Strategy for OneSky, which aligns perfectly with his passions for innovation and sustainability in aviation.

Alasdair Whyte

Co-founder, Helicopter Investor

Chris Wills

Head of Consultancy Operations, Ascend by Cirium

Chris leads the operational side of the Ascend By Cirium 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 a number of years based in New York and recently 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.