The Shannon-based Atlantic Aviation Group (AAG) has confirmed the addition of 50 new jobs following securing a maintenance contract with a ‘blue-chip’ international airline for a new maintenance line.
The confirmation of the 50 highly qualified roles is contained in new 2023 accounts for Atlantic Aviation Group Ltd and subsidiaries showing a 68pc decline in pre-tax profits to €1.4 million last year.
The group sustained the drop in profits as revenues increased by 6pc from €95.3 million to €101 million.
The business continued to expand in 2023 as numbers employed increased from 652 to 703 as staff costs rose from €37.82 million to €44.5 million.
In 2021, AAG formally acquired the Lufthansa Technik Shannon business from Lufthansa Technik (AG) and under the terms of the deal, approximately 300 Lufthansa Technik Shannon employees joined the AAG group.
The AAG directors state that “the medium term outlook for the Group is extremely bright, with further anticipated growth in 2024 and 2025, through a number of strategic growth initiatives that the directors have identified and deployed the necessary resources to ensure their successful execution”
They state “the operation of a ninth line of heavy base maintenance in Shannon is planned for Q1 2025, for which a multi-year nose to tail contract has already been secured with a blue chip international airline, and will result in the addition of a further 50 highly qualified technical roles in the mid-west”.
Reflecting on the 2023 performance, the directors state that “2023 was a relatively challenging year for Atlantic Aviation group as the aviation industry continues to adjust to the legacy effects of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
They state that these adjustments are most evident in the employment market “where the sector is attempting to respond to increased passenger demand with a reduced level of available technical resources from a maintenance perspective”.
They state the group “did however, continue to enjoy further growth in both revenue and operating profit across the defence segment of its business, which continued its upward trajectory in 2023”.
The directors state that they identified an industry-wide challenge in the aviation market which they addressed in a proactive manner and embarked on a successful international recruitment campaign attracting substantial numbers of highly qualified technical resources across a broad range of skill sets.
They state that "the attraction of this experienced technical talent together with the addition of several new multi-year nose to tail contracts, with blue-chip multinational airlines, across all eight lines, resulted in a significant improvement to profitability in the final quarter of 2023”.
They state that “this improved performance has continued into the first nine months of 2024, which is substantially ahead of the same period in 2023”.
The business last year generated cash of €3.89 million from operating activities.
The group’s revenues are made up of €84 million in Republic of Ireland revenues and €16.9 million in UK revenues.
