Avion Group Joint Venture with Advent Air Limited

8/18/2006, Avion Group, a leading international transport solutions group, is pleased to announce a strategic joint venture with Advent Air Ltd an Australasian airline group, listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange (AAIR.LN).

Under the terms of the agreement, Avion’s subsidiaries, Star Airlines of France and Star Europe of Germany, will between them provide up to four Airbus A320 aircraft to Advent Air’s subsidiary, Skywest Ltd.

Avion Group, a leading international transport solutions group, is pleased to announce a strategic joint venture with Advent Air Ltd an Australasian airline group, listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange (AAIR.LN).

Under the terms of the agreement, Avion’s subsidiaries, Star Airlines of France and Star Europe of Germany, will between them provide up to four Airbus A320 aircraft to Advent Air’s subsidiary, Skywest Ltd.

Skywest is an award winning airline that has been meeting the needs of Australian domestic and international tourists and business travellers for more than 42 years. Skywest has flown millions of passengers throughout Western Australia, to the Northern Territory of Australia and to Indonesia.

Skywest reported turnover last year of over A$100 million, yielding profits of A$7 million. Skywest has reported high growth in passenger numbers from 2004 when Advent became its dominant shareholder with a controlling interest.

Avion’s Charter & Leisure division are responsible for securing the deal with Advent, in line with their stated strategy of focusing on maximum utilisation of aircraft through agreements with airlines throughout the World.

Under the terms of the deal with Advent, Avion’s Star Airlines will benefit from utilisation of their A320 aircraft during the Winter schedule, from November to April, which is Skywest’s peak season given their long haul destinations. This is contrary to Star Airlines’ and Star Europe’s high season therefore, maximising utilization of existing aircraft.

Avion has also made an agreement with Xtra Airways, headquartered in Nevada USA, to lease part of Excel Airways’ fleet during the Winter schedule, also high season for Xtra Airways. Xtra will lease three to four aircraft from Excel Airways over Winter 2006.

Delivery of the first aircraft under the deal with Advent, is scheduled for November 2006 in Perth, Australia, with the remaining aircraft delivered, subject to both parties’ agreement, over an anticipated period of two years from November 2007. The first aircraft will be available on Skywest’s route network year round, following which, it is anticipated additional aircraft will be made available on a demand driven and seasonal basis every year.

Additionally, Avion has signed an agreement to purchase 9,801,012 ordinary shares in the capital of Advent Air Ltd, representing approximately 5% of the currently issued share capital of the company. The share purchase represents an investment of £1,421,147 by Avion Group. The purchase will be financed through Avion Group’s equity and with debt.

Commenting on the joint venture, Magnus Thorsteinsson, Chairman of Avion Group, said:

“This agreement with Advent not only provides the Group with further revenue potential, but is also an endorsement of the many opportunities we believed Star Airlines would represent for Avion when we acquired the company earlier this year.

“The deal provides Avion Group access to the highly lucrative and fast growing Australian and Asian aviation markets through utilisation of Star’s fleet, which comprise some of the newest and highest quality aircraft within the market place.”

Contact Information

Dögg Hjaltalín

Director - Investor Relations

Avion Group

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