​Convolus, the operator buying club with a member-only platform, has partnered with VAT IT in order to offer cost-efficient VAT & MOT (Mineral Oil Tax) reclaim services. Convolus’ Members can now access preferred pricing and benefit from streamlined processes for VAT & MOT reclaims. 

The partnership combines VAT IT’s expertise with a simpler transfer of relevant invoices through Convolus’ systems, effectively reducing back-office workload for the Convolus Members.

VAT can add 15%-25% to all aviation-related expenses, while MOT usually attracts a much higher percentage. In most cases however, this expense is reclaimable for commercial operators.

About VAT IT
 
VAT IT is a global leader in cross-border VAT and tax recovery. We maximise your tax recovery end to end through our industry-leading technology, while ensuring full compliance.
 
We are proud to offer commercial aviation operators a full solution to reclaiming tax and exercise duties charged on fuel purchases, as well as VAT incurred through ground handling, navigation and pilot travel expenses. In addition to helping you save up to 40% on total flight costs, we will also ensure your total aviation tax compliance.
 
https://www.vatit.com 

About Convolus
 
Convolus is the only operator-independent Buying Club, with 140+ aircraft Members across Europe, focusing on the needs of the Group and maintaining full confidentiality between every Member. Its unique software-empowered approach helps to scale the principle through its digital platform by surfacing ideal buying options, generating personalised savings reports, digitalising invoices for spend analysis, and more.
 
Convolus provides operators with independent advice and the best value purchasing deals on costs they incur on a current basis, without interrupting daily operations. An equal focus is put on assisting suppliers to better target the fragmented operator landscape.

​There has been a lot of talk and action to consolidate Business Aviation over the last 10 years. M&A Teams have worked hard to create larger groups that aim for two major goals: 

1. Creating a fleet large enough to create synergies across that fleet, thus reducing empty legs; and
2. Reducing the overall cost of aircraft operations by increasing the group’s buying power 

Yet, there seems to be a new breed of aircraft operators just starting out that exactly aim for the opposite of what the large consolidators offer:

​These ‘boutique operators’ promise a highly personalised service to their clients. They expressly aim to not grow to a large fleet nor growing quickly so they can offer the best service possible to their clients. 

And with the consolidators seemingly having lost some momentum in the quest to swallow up more operators and revising down profit forecasts, I believe this new breed of operators is on to something. 

Yet, I also believe they need to focus on two major trends in the industry, in order to stand out and pull away from the flock: 

​In Business Aviation, we have been somewhat reluctant to embrace new technologies that could make our business more efficient. Technology is not something that takes away jobs but merely allows us to automate repetitive, costly tasks and focus on what is truly important in our everyday roles: speaking to our clients and making them happy. 

I would argue that even the larger players in this industry still have not fully embraced the technology that is available to them. If a boutique operator decides to build their operations on a strong technology backbone, it can truly find its way to the very front of the industry. 

​While I have heard the phrase ‘our clients do not really care about what their flights cost’ on numerous occasions, this is a concept that is very hard to grasp for me and I believe this could not be further from the truth. Our clients are the best of the best in the business world and it is not in their nature to pay more for a service than they should. They want value for their money. 

This is exactly why I believe Group Purchasing in Business Aviation will become a pillar for smaller boutique operators. It offers them the ability to combine a highly personalised service to their clients with competitive operating costs, catapulting them into to the very front of the value offering to clients. 

​If these boutique operators can fully embrace a combination of personalised service, technology-driven, streamlined operations & great operating costs, they will become unstoppable. 

Group Purchasing may still be in its infancies but judging from the trends we are seeing in the industry, it is certainly a concept that is here to stay as it supports the very core of the industry: Boutique Operators. 

​

Septembre 2018

With Business Aviation Operators receiving and manually processing an average of 3,000 invoices per annum per aircraft, Convolus has developed a solution to help its Members automating this costly task. In parallel to launching the Convolus FBO Network – where Members can benefit from preferred conditions with selected quality FBOs at close to 100 airports across Europe – Convolus has created an automated invoice processing service for its Members: Invoicee. 
 
Invoicee automatically extracts the data out of invoices received from a Supplier and provides it to the Member via email in for easy importing in accounting systems as well as making it available on the Convolus platform for reporting purposes. This allows Members not having to process manually the invoice - saving time, costs and rendering the data more accurate.

Today – after a beta test over the summer – Convolus is happy to announce the launch of new features to Invoicee:
 
Automated Price Checking: Invoicee automatically checks against Convolus' data base that the invoice is correct. If discrepancies are detected, the system notifies the Convolus team, which resolves the price discrepancy on behalf of the Operator.
 
Automated Flight Matching: Invoicee automatically checks whether the aircraft was at that airport on that day indicated on the Invoice. A time-consuming task currently done manually by operators.

Upon receiving an invoice from a FBO, Convolus Members receive - a few minutes later - an email like the following:

About Convolus
 
Convolus is the only operator-independent Buying Club, focusing on the needs of the Group and maintaining full confidentiality between every Member. Its unique software-empowered approach helps to scale the principle through its digital platform by surfacing ideal buying options, generating personalised savings reports, digitalising invoices for spend analysis, and more.
 
Convolus provides operators with independent advice and the best value purchasing deals on costs they incur on a current basis, without interrupting daily operations. An equal focus is put on assisting suppliers to better target the fragmented operator landscape. ​​

PR Contact:
pr@convolus.com

​August 2018

Convolus, the operator buying club with a member-only platform, has partnered with SITAONAIR in order to offer cost-efficient cabin connectivity solutions. Convolus’ Members can now access preferred pricing for inflight connectivity, significantly reducing their usage cost.

The partnership opens up SITAONAIR’s offer beyond its existing major airline, head of state and VVIP customers, to the wider business aviation fleet. 

"Choosing and buying cabin connectivity remains a pain point for operators, while inflight Wi-Fi becomes a must for today’s customer. SITAONAIR – the aviation’s industry’s connected aircraft service expert and SITA Group subsidiary – is the perfect partner to enable savings for our Members while providing an outstanding customer service to Members and their clients", said Irena Deville, Co-Founder and CEO.

“Partnering with Convolus highlights our commitment to increasing our reach in the business aviation segment. We are delighted to offer our services to Convolus Members who will benefit from our service at preferred pricing,” adds Stephan Egli, SITAONAIR VP for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In its July 2018 issue, Business Airport International covers the launch of our Members-only FBO network, where small and medium operators can benefit from negotiated rates, and software-empowered assistance with invoice processing.

Convolus is an innovative buying club/procurement company supporting its Members - small and medium Business Aviation operators across Europe - to buy the right services, from vetted suppliers, at better conditions. 

At heart Convolus is a technology company, working with a passion to empower the industry via data, connectivity, software and automation. Our Member-only platform helps connecting people and automating tasks.

We strive to support our Members as best as we can and, with a quickly growing membership base, we need support from someone passionate about the industry and knowledgeable about daily operations, acting as a first port of all for our Members but also as a trusted advisor.

Give us a shout if you: 

•   Are someone who strikes up relationships easily 
•   Love the industry and people within
•   Are technology-savvy or keen to learn
•   Cherish autonomous work
•   Have a good understanding of business aviation operations 
•   Are happy to travel on a regular basis to see clients (across Europe)
•   Speak additional languages (a definite plus)
•   Like to work in a diverse team

At Convolus, we love:

•   Innovation 
•   Technology 
•   Transparency
•   Learning every day
•   Inclusiveness and flat hierarchies
  (disclaimer: our CEO makes the worst jokes)
•   Enabling all team members
•   Respectfulness
•   Remote & Flexible work 

A little more about Convolus:

Convolus is the only operator-independent Buying Club, focusing on the needs of the Group and maintaining full confidentiality between every Member. Its unique software-empowered approach helps to scale the principle through its digital platform by surfacing ideal buying options, generating personalised savings reports, digitalising invoices for spend analysis, and more.

Convolus provides operators with independent advice and the best value purchasing deals on costs they incur on a current basis, without interrupting daily operations. An equal focus is put on assisting suppliers to better target the fragmented operator landscape. 

At Convolus, we look to technology to improve and streamline different aspects of Business Aviation. Our own approach is data-centric and software-empowered. We also look closely at all technology-led developments in Business Aviation that will impact positively the industry.

Once initiative, driven by Eurocontrol, is A-CDM.

The number of passengers and aircraft movements in European airports has been steadily on the rise in the last few years. With this increase, the number of available slots has naturally diminished, which in turn increased the need to optimise the existing resources. That is where the Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) comes into existence. The Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) consortium recognised effective slot management as a vital part of the process of reaching the objective Single European Sky. By having all parties involved in the handling and processing of an aircraft share information in real-time, the existing slots could be managed more efficiently.

Convolus, a buying club with a member-only platform, representing over 100 aircraft from Operators across Europe, has now launched its European FBO network. The network offers Convolus’ Members deals for handling services at airports, enabling up to 30% savings on standard pricing.

Designed to support small and medium-sized fleets operating in an industry of ever-growing competition, Convolus negotiates group pricing for its Members. In turn, suppliers can market to a significant number of aircraft at once, facilitating their outreach.

From the outset, the Convolus FBO Network covers around 100 Business Aviation airports, bringing together larger handling providers and individual establishments, and will be continuously growing. Some of the launch partners supporting the initiative include strong suppliers such as:

• Jet Aviation,
• KURZ Aviation Service,
• Air Hamburg Executive Handling,
• Dassault Falcon Service,
• Aviapartner Executive,
• ExecuJet,
• OMNI Handling,
• Skylink Services,
• United Aviation Services,
• Fly Service,
• Alpha Jet Services,
• and more

​"Convolus is committed to providing small and medium-sized operators in Europe with independent advice and the best buying deals. Counting so many well-established partners among our supplier base is testament to our vision and potential", said Irena Deville, Co- Founder and CEO.

Romain Papy, FBO General Manager at Dassault Falcon Service - ranked n°1 FBO at Le Bourget airport (AIN) for the 4th year in a row - adds: "Having been chosen by Convolus as their preferred FBO at a very competitive location such as Paris Le Bourget proves DFS FBO commitment to extending Falcon top-class services to all types of aircraft. We will be very pleased to welcome Convolus Members in our fully redesigned facilities including open lounges and relaxation areas thus improving the comfort and quality of services offered to passengers and crew members”

Convolus is free to join and now accepting new operator Members, as well as suppliers interested to engage a group of Operators at once. To find out more please Contact Us.

About Convolus

Whilst several group buying initiatives have been seen in Business Aviation, Convolus represents the only operator-independent solution, focusing on the needs of the Group and maintaining full confidentiality between every Member.

Convolus’ unique software-empowered approach helps to scale the principle through its digital platform by surfacing ideal buying options, generating personalised savings reports, and more.

Convolus, founded by Irena and Nicolas Deville in early 2017, provides operators with independent advice and the best value purchasing deals on costs they incur on a current basis, without interrupting daily operations. An equal focus is put on assisting suppliers to better target the fragmented operator landscape.

Headquartered in London, Convolus is European at heart. The team speaks English, German and French fluently and is committed to continuously growing the pool of aircraft of operators from across the continent.

Consolidation has taken hold of the business aviation industry over the last four to five years. Large entities such as Lux and Gama Aviation have been spearheading the movement by completing some of the most high-profile transactions, significantly growing the size of their fleet and operational footprint. But consolidation has materialised across regions, operator types and sizes.

To name just a few, and focusing on Europe only, we have witnessed transactions between Wijet and Blink, North 51 and Executive Aviation Services, Flying Group and Jet Management Europe, WaltAir and Hummingbird Aviation, FAI and FlyAlpha, and so on.

BACA’s 2015 Survey suggests that, during 2015, every second business aviation provider transacted an M&A opportunity, considered a specific opportunity, or took advice on M&A options.
So, why are operators choosing this path of consolidation?

For now, the European operator market remains hugely fragmented, with many small and very small operators active. The average European operator manages a fleet of fewer than three and a half aircraft and fewer than 20 operators manage fleets of more than 20 aircraft.

This extensive industry fragmentation stems from its early development. Operating entities were often founded by individuals from an operational background, focused on delivering the best service to a small number of end-users. Only some of these entities mastered the transition to a more business-focused approach to operations, gearing up for growth and operational scale and, following that, reaching critical mass.

At the same time, operators face an increasingly challenging market: management fees are declining and end-user-centric solutions (such as online marketplaces for charter flights) make available flight inventory increasingly transparent and, in turn, render the charter market even more competitive.
It is this highly fragmented, increasingly challenging market that has fostered the spread of consolidation. The consensus is that some level of industry consolidation is necessary for operator margins to finally improve.

But how exactly does operator scale contribute to improved margins?

1 Lower overhead costs per aircraft. Increasingly stringent safety and regulatory requirements, imposed by authorities and auditing companies, drive up operators’ overheads over time. Entities that operate a fleet commercially carry the significant and recurrent costs of an in-house AOC structure.
This cost is fixed to a large percentage, increasing only to some extent with a growing fleet. It is an easy conclusion to come to that the fewer aircraft a commercial operator manages, the more overhead cost it incurs per aircraft.
In the quest for improved margins, an operator therefore has an incentive to grow the fleet to achieve lower overhead costs on a per-aircraft basis.

2 Lower costs for operational input. Simply put, the larger an operator, the greater its power to procure the services it requires to operate its aircraft.
In a fragmented operator landscape, suppliers need to market to a large number of (smaller) operators, which is expensive and offers a small conversion rate. Suppliers are therefore keen to work with large(r) entities that offer the opportunity to meaningfully increase sales, while keeping sales efforts and administration at a minimum. Suppliers with a strategic outlook will also prefer to work with larger operators as they represent a more predictable, contracted source of revenue.
Suppliers can and will reduce their rates for services provided to larger Operators with an increase in sales volume associated with that client. A larger Operator can thus improve its margins by procuring at a lower price point as it grows.

3 Fewer empty legs operated. Currently, a third of all commercially-operated business aviation flights across European skies are empty, leaving the operators to bear the cost. Unsurprisingly, finding a solution to this expensive issue has become the holy grail of the industry.
Consolidation aims to create a network large enough to reduce empty legs to a minimum, or to reach critical mass. The larger an operator’s fleet and the larger its corresponding client network, the better its chances of reducing non-revenue generating flights.
That reduction will have a direct impact on the operator’s margin.

So, consolidation is undeniably happening. And it is likely to positively influence the industry, as it clearly offers the potential of improved margins.

At this point, however, we should ask if and how well operators can reconcile scaling up with offering the high-end, personalised services levels that end-users expect and deserve from them. How large is too large, when clients become yet another “cog in the wheel”?

There is plenty of space in the industry for consolidators operating alongside smaller entities that offer the highly personalised service that many clients want.
​
It may, however, be time for “boutique operators” to shake up “business as usual” by employing other ways to reduce costs and increase margins, carving a more defined niche for themselves in a transforming, highly competitive industry. One way of doing this could be to offer their clients a unique value proposition, which combines high-end, personalised services levels and a competitive cost base.

By Irena Deville, Co-Founder & CEO
(first published on Corporate Jet Investor: https://corporatejetinvestor.com/articles/consolidation-the-quest-to-improve-operator-margins-638/)