Aviation Startup - European Contacts & Networking

Last Updated: 2026-03-01


Spain (Home Market)

Gestair Group -- Primary Target

The largest Spanish bizav operator and the most relevant contact for dispatch research. Gestair Aeroplanning provides external flight dispatch services from Madrid-Barajas Executive Terminal.

Field Details
HQ C/ Anabel Segura 11, 28108 Alcobendas, Madrid
Fleet 37 aircraft (Gulfstream, Bombardier, Dassault, Cessna, Pilatus, Embraer)
Website gestair.com
LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/gestair/
Ownership GPF Capital (PE fund)

Key People:

Name Title Why Relevant
Manuel Tirado GM Aeroplanning Career dispatcher since 1998, now runs dispatch ops. #1 contact for discovery.
Rafael Melero GM Aviation Oversees all operations & airworthiness since 2010.
Roberto Zapatero Corral Commercial & BD Director Entry point for business conversations. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roberto-zapatero-corral-71a1b76b
Carmen Munguia Aircraft Sales & Acquisition Director Active at industry events (CJI London Feb 2026). LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/carmen-munguia-41021512
Cesar Ovelar CFO LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cesarperez1978
Carlos Gerico CEO & Chairman Since 2015.

Contact Info:

Department Phone Email
Corporate +34 91 625 99 00 corporate@gestair.com
Charter +34 91 784 62 70 charter@gestair.com
Aeroplanning/Ops +34 91 627 56 51 ops@gestair.com
Aircraft Management +34 91 625 99 95 management@gestair.com

Notes: - Uses TrustFlight Centrik for real-time ops management - Building a new 9,000m2 hangar at Barajas - Also holds an AOC in Malta for non-EU operations - Regular EBACE attendees

Other Spanish Operators

Company Fleet Est. Base Type Website Notes
Aeronova 3-5 Malaga (LEMG) Charter & management aeronova.es Fits 1-10 aircraft target
JetFly Aviation 2-4 Ibiza/Palma Fractional (PC-12, PC-24) jetfly.com Active in Balearics
TAG Aviation (Spain) Managed fleet Madrid/Ibiza Swiss parent, Spanish ops tagaviation.com
Brok-Air Aviation Group Small Canarias Aviation group LinkedIn search
ATS Aviation S.L. Small Madrid Aviation services LinkedIn search
Helity Copter Airlines 3-5 heli Malaga Helicopter (Ceuta-Algeciras) helity.es Niche but accessible

No longer relevant: - Ejecutiva Aviation -- absorbed into Gestair - Privilege Style -- VIP airline (A321, 757, 767, 777), not bizav


France

Le Bourget (LFPB) is the European capital of business aviation.

Company Fleet Est. Base Website Notes
Dassault Falcon Service 15-20 managed Paris Le Bourget dfrservices.com Dassault subsidiary, MRO + management + charter
Astonjet 5-8 Paris Le Bourget astonjet.com Falcon/Citation fleet
Unijet 4-6 Paris Le Bourget unijet.fr Long-established, Falcon-heavy
Valljet 8-12 Paris Le Bourget valljet.com Growing, mixed fleet (Legacy, Challenger)
Fly Alliance Small Nice -- Nice-based
Oyonnair Small Lyon --

Germany

Company Fleet Est. Base Website Notes
DC Aviation 10-15 Stuttgart (EDDS) dc-aviation.com DC Aviation Group
FAI Aviation Group 8-12 Nuremberg (EDDN) fai.ag Air ambulance + charter, Global Express fleet
Windrose Air 5-8 Frankfurt (EDDF) windroseair.com Jetcharter subsidiary
MHS Aviation Small Munich --
Aerowest Small Dusseldorf --
Jetcall Small Essen --

United Kingdom

Company Fleet Est. Base Website Notes
Gama Aviation 15-25 managed Farnborough (EGLF) gamaaviation.com Major UK operator, also US ops
Luxaviation UK 10-15 Biggin Hill / Stansted luxaviation.com Part of Luxaviation Group
Centreline 5-8 Biggin Hill (EGKB) centrelineaviation.com Citation-heavy, charter + management
Flairjet Small Farnborough --
Saxon Air Small Norwich --
London Air Services Small Biggin Hill --

Switzerland

Company Fleet Est. Base Website Notes
TAG Aviation 20-30 managed Geneva (LSGG) tagaviation.com One of Europe's largest bizav operators
Jet Aviation 10-20 managed Basel / Zurich jetaviation.com Part of General Dynamics
ExecuJet 8-12 managed Zurich (LSZH) execujet.com Part of Luxaviation Group
Albinati Aviation Small Geneva --

Italy

Company Fleet Est. Base Website Notes
Sirio SpA 5-8 Milan Malpensa / Bologna sirioaviazione.it Italian charter operator
Eurofly Service 3-5 Rome Ciampino (LIRA) euroflyservice.it Smaller operator
Aliserio Small Milan Linate --
Star Wings Small Rome --

Portugal

Company Fleet Est. Base Website Notes
NetJets Europe 70+ EU-wide Lisbon (LPPT) netjetseurope.com Portuguese AOC, largest EU fractional
Omni Aviation 3-6 Lisbon / Cascais omniaviation.pt Charter & management
Hi Fly Larger Lisbon hifly.aero Wet lease / VIP, good ops contacts

Netherlands

Company Fleet Est. Base Website Notes
Exxaero 5-8 Maastricht (EHBK) exxaero.com Dutch charter operator
JetNetherlands 3-5 Rotterdam (EHRD) jetnetherlands.com
Solid Air Small Maastricht area --

Nordics

Company Fleet Est. Base Website Notes
Sundt Air 5-8 Oslo (ENGM) sundtair.com Norwegian, Falcon/Challenger
Aircontact 3-5 Copenhagen / Billund aircontact.dk Danish
Jetflite Small Helsinki jetflite.fi Finnish
North Flying Small Aalborg -- Danish
Jonair Small Gothenburg -- Swedish

Pan-European Operators (Active in Spain)

Company Fleet HQ Website Notes
FlyingGroup 42 Antwerp, Belgium flyinggroup.aero Active across Iberia
Luxaviation 250+ managed Luxembourg luxaviation.com Operates in multiple EU countries
VistaJet 70+ Malta AOC vistajet.com Global, subscription model

Industry Organizations

Must-Join

Organization Cost Value Contact
OPSGROUP ~$300/year 8,000+ ops professionals, NOTAM reform community, Mark Zee network ops.group
EBAA (Associate Member) EUR 3,000-8,000/year Member directory (700 operators), Flight Ops Committee, events, EBACE access membership@ebaa.org, ebaa.org
COPAC (Spanish pilot association) Membership fee Spanish pilot network, events, tours, mentoring +34 91 590 02 10, copac.es

Worth Monitoring

Organization Focus Website
EUFALDA European Flight Dispatcher Association eufalda.org
IFALDA International dispatcher federation ifalda.org
Flight Safety Foundation Safety research flightsafety.org
SKYbrary Eurocontrol safety knowledge base skybrary.aero

Key Thought Leader

Mark Zee -- Founder of OPSGROUP and FixingNotams.org. The leading global voice on NOTAM reform. Active on LinkedIn and X. Has directly lobbied ICAO and FAA for NOTAM format changes. Built "NORM" -- an AI bot using NLP on 2 million NOTAMs. If you're building NOTAM intelligence, he needs to know about you.


LinkedIn Search Templates

Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator (free trial available) with these searches:

Dispatchers:

Title: "dispatcher" OR "flight dispatcher" OR "OCC" OR "operations control"
Industry: Airlines and Aviation
Location: [target country]

Ops Managers:

Title: "operations manager" OR "flight operations" OR "ops manager" OR "head of operations"
Industry: Airlines and Aviation
Company size: 11-200
Location: Europe

EASA-Specific Titles (European bizav uses these):

Title: "nominated person flight operations" OR "post holder flight operations" OR "NP ops"
Industry: Airlines and Aviation
Location: Europe

Chief Pilots:

Title: "chief pilot" OR "flight operations director" OR "VP operations"
Industry: Airlines and Aviation
Location: [target country]


Public Operator Registries (Free Data)

Every EU member state CAA publishes AOC holder lists with legal entity name, AOC number, base, and accountable manager:

Country Authority Website
Spain AESA seguridadaerea.gob.es
France DGAC ecologie.gouv.fr
Germany LBA lba.de
UK CAA caa.co.uk/commercial-industry/airlines/licensing/
Switzerland FOCA bazl.admin.ch
Italy ENAC enac.gov.it
Portugal ANAC anac.pt
EASA TCO List easa.europa.eu

Other Directories

  • aircharterguide.com -- Lists operators by country with fleet details
  • aviapages.com -- Business aviation directory
  • avinode.com -- Charter marketplace (requires industry account)
  • aviationjobsearch.com -- Job boards show which companies have dispatch departments

Events Calendar 2026

Event Dates Location Cost Priority
Pilot Careers Live Madrid 28 March 2026 NH Eurobuilding, Madrid Free High -- COPAC booth, local networking
World ATM Congress March 2026 Madrid IFEMA Paid Medium -- ATC/ATM focused
Aero Friedrichshafen April 2026 Germany Paid Low -- more GA
EBACE 2026 2-4 June 2026 Palexpo, Geneva EUR 500 early bird (before 15 Mar) / EUR 620 standard Critical -- #1 European bizav event
NBAA-BACE October 2026 US (varies) Paid Low for now -- US focus
MEBAA Show December 2026 Dubai Paid Low for now -- Middle East

EBACE Registration: https://register.visitcloud.com/survey/1pblq7t4s8izs


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