Following its purchase of a minority share of Puerto Rico-based Pazos FBO Services, Jet Aviation will rebrand the facility, one of two aviation service providers at Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport, as Jet Aviation San Juan. The two companies are formalizing the agreement with a signing ceremony here at EBACE.  (FOR PLANNING PURPOSES TO TAKE PLACE Monday 5/22 10am)

The $6 million FBO, which opened last fall, includes a pilot suite with showers and snooze room, flight planning area, executive passenger lounge, A/V-equipped conference room and aircraft maintenance. A 22,000-sq-ft hangar, capable of sheltering the latest class of ultra-long-range business jets, is on track for completion this fall. While Pazos exhibited by itself at last year's EBACE, the facility this year joins the line up of those exhibiting at the Jet Aviation booth (R134).

Jet Aviation Group president Rob Smithsaid, “The brand new San Juan-based FBO, with more than 20,000 sq ft of space including expanded aircraft parking ramp with capacity for increased traffic and future additional hangar facilities, is the perfect fit for Jet Aviation to continue expanding our reach within the region.”

The location, which will be managed by Jet Aviation as its 10th location in the Americas, is the only FBO in Puerto Rico with a full-service, onsite U.S. Customs and Border Protection terminal for customs, immigration and agricultural clearance of international flights. The airport serves as a key U.S. entry port for aircraft from the Caribbean and South America. The new facility began operations on December 22, and by the end of 2016, it had processed 59 international flights. By the end of April, that number had risen to 945 flights and nearly 3,000 passengers. “We foresee the upward trend to continue as more people and companies become aware of the new facilities,” said Pazos president José Maldonado, who maintains a majority stake in the location.

Maldonado said he had been approached by many other companies seeking such a deal. In the end, he chose Jet Aviation because he felt the General Dynamics subsidiary was the best organized, internationally. “Adding Jet Aviation’s global strength, resources and management expertise is the perfect next step for us,” he noted. “There is only one Pazos, and there are over 22 Jet Aviation FBOs. There are  36 Jet Aviation installations throughout the world, including their MROs and maintenance facilities, and I believe that bringing in a partner with global presence would increase our presence in the industry,” he told AIN, adding the location has already begun to see benefits from the new association.

Also making its EBACE debut this year as a Jet Aviation facility is the company’s FBO at Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport. The Zurich-based company acquired the location from Ross Aviation in January, and held its grand opening last month. The FBO complex encompasses six hangars, 10 acres of ramp space and a newly renovated terminal that includes on-site customs and immigration services, VIP lounge, flight-planning center, executive conference room and on-site car rental.