LONDON – Universal Aviation, a ground support division of Universal Weather and Aviation, has expanded its presence in Greece with the opening of Universal Aviation Greece in Paros.
The opening
Universal Aviation Greece has begun its operations on May 16th with local dedicated Universal Aviation staff directly supporting operators coming to the field.
“Based on booking and trip inquiries, we forecast business aviation traffic to Greece to exceed even 2021’s record-setting volumes,” said Adolfo Aragon, senior vice president, Universal Aviation. “We’re aggressively expanding throughout the Mediterranean to meet this pent-up demand and enhance our customers’ ground experience at congested and challenging destinations like Paros.”
The Paros location is the third location for Universal Aviation Greece. The first location is Athens, where UAG has its headquarters located and provides supervisory ground support to all of Greece since 1993. The second location is in Mykonos, which opened in 2021.
“Traffic to Paros has been growing steadily for years since, but since the pandemic, it surged to new heights, with pent-up travel demand making demand for slots, parking, and services even more challenging,” said Yiannis Arkoulis, managing director, Universal Aviation Greece. “We expanded to Paros based on customer demand and to enhance the experience of our customers travelling to the island.”
With its expansion to Paros, Universal Aviation is the only handler on the island with its people entirely dedicated to business aviation and with a global network backing it up, including a 24/7 ops centre capable of coordinating full coverage throughout Greece.
Universal Aviation Paros’ dedicated agents have been trained at high-traffic airports in Athens and Mykonos and are adept at coordinating third-party services such as ground transfers, catering, and hotel accommodations.
“While not an AOE, Paros accepts flights arriving from the EU and Schengen region,” said Dimitra Kiriakopoulou, director, ops & customer care. “We can assist foreign-based operators with clearing through any of our EU Universal Aviation locations and our dedicated ops centre is capable of combining permits for tech stops for customs or fuel, meaning fewer handoffs and fewer opportunities for error.”
History
Universal Weather and Aviation is a company that provides products and services for general aviation such as international flight planning and scheduling, weather briefings, fueling programs, aircraft ground handling, and aviation security.
The company was founded in 1953 and currently serves at more than 50 locations in 20 countries.
The opening of the new location in Paros is a great way to relieve some of the stress the airport might be expecting this coming summer. Paros is a very touristic location in Greece (honestly, what place is not a touristic location). The introduction of Universal Weather would be a great relief for the airport for when the summer period comes, as there is now a dedicated ground handler/supplier at the airport which is solely focusing on general aviation, leaving the rest of the airport free to the other ground handlers and relieves some pressure.
