A new segment is being formed on the Russian market – independent consulting in the field of business aviation. Sergey Morozov, senior partner of Morozov & Partners Consulting Group, expects some five companies offering independent expertise on aircraft purchase to start working by the time Jet Expo 2008 welcomes its first visitors. Mr. Morozov tells readers of TopFlight magazine about the necessity of such services and the practical activities of the group.

Sergey, could you please tell us what directions Morozov & Partners Consulting Group works in?

The group was established to work as a universal consulting company in the sphere of business aviation. In Russia and abroad there exist companies functioning either as aviation companies having a special license to operate aircraft or as proper operators carrying out commercial operation of the aircraft.

Certainly all these companies offer turnkey services – that’s consulting regarding the choice of aircraft, support of sales transactions, management of the delivery procedures, registration and eventually the operation of the new business jet.

Morozov & Partners is the first consulting company of this kind in the Russian Federation to execute the abovementioned with a slight but essential difference.
We are independent consultants and we do not confine ourselves to offering our own services. On the contrary, we assist in choosing an operator which would be the most appropriate to the client as well as to the aircraft. It goes without saying that obvious progress in rendering quality services to buyers and owners has been made.

Is the choice of a management company really dependent on the aircraft type?

Definitely. For instance, there are lots of companies specializing in light and very light jets. There are peculiarities which first of all concern the work of engineering personnel. Maybe a company like this would be happy to take a heavy jet in operation but certain restrictions are there that make it impracticable.

As opposed to operators we have an impartial position on the market. Therefore we are able to assess the current situation in all that concerns aircraft registration, drawing up customs documents, reputation and competence of aviation companies. We let the client make the final decision after giving him the facts. This the main difference between Morozov & Partners and an operator or a management company.

Is it that difficult to register aircraft? Why is it necessary to turn to a consulting company?

It is necessary not only to know the current state of affairs in the market but also have profound knowledge in modern aviation legislation.

For example, if your aircraft is registered in Switzerland to get to Nice from Moscow you’ll have to land in Switzerland first and only after that you can leave for France, which is absolutely inconvenient for the owner. Unfortunately many owners find out about the formality when the jet is already registered. It is in the owners’ interest to avoid such unpleasant surprises.

Evidently you have to work keeping in mind the peculiarities of legislation of different countries, don’t you?

It’s common practice to register business jets in such European countries as Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. If we’re talking about private ownership we should consider Aruba, the Cayman Islands and the Bermudas. But in every country there are peculiarities in legislation, and the latter is constantly improving. For instance, the authorities of Aruba now demand obligatory licensing for companies operating aircraft based in Moscow. The owners normally cannot keep track of these changes.

How can your company help choose and buy a business jet?

Anyone who has ten to fifty million dollars can buy a bizjet nowadays. There’s Planet Jet Guide catalogue which lists contact details of all the representative offices in Moscow. You can buy the aircraft yourself – the most complicated thing is to correctly draw up a contract which is not a difficulty for an experienced lawyer. You can hardly expect to get an adequate model specification comparison from an OEM.

Before you sign a contract it is necessary to be aware of other peculiarities of the transaction. That is why a buyer turns to managing companies and they never show off their own drawbacks.

Consulting companies carry out thorough research and analysis of the client’s needs on the one hand and of concrete offers on the other. The bidding among aviation and managing companies will help you to find exactly the aircraft you need.

What particular criteria should an aviation company meet to be chosen?

First of all the priority should go to flight safety. The company must do its utmost to provide it. In turn the owner has to keep an eye on the expenses to understand perfectly well the structure of making profit from commercial operation of the aircraft and what exactly he pays for.

You need time to study out all these things. You’ll have to make inquiries about the company reputation in various sources. The obtained information should also be scrupulously analyzed. So a professional is the one who is supposed to do this.

How unique is your offer? Do any other companies provide such services?

I would say that at the moment in Russia only our company provides such integral analysis of aircraft ownership. Similar companies have been working for a long time in Europe. In the US there are a lot of consulting companies as well as aircraft.

Do you expect to see competition?

Sure we do! We held two series of seminars in February and March dedicated to buying your own business jet. There was quite a lot of coverage in the media and I think we will see the results in a couple of months. I expect Some three or even five consulting companies to present their services at Jet Expo 2008 in Moscow.

What matters were discussed at the seminars?

We had a huge number of issues to discuss and it is quite difficult to put in a few words. Many important and crucial matters were covered during the discussions finishing both seminars. The attendees used the opportunity to get valuable information at first hand, to hear opinions and predictions of the experts. The next series of seminars is planned to be held in May. Everyone who is interested is more than welcome to participate.

A new company needs new clients. This means marketing, promotion and which means it should do marketing and advertising. What are you going to undertake in this respect?

Recently new media instruments have emerged on the market and present and future aircraft owners use them. I mean the specialized business aviation portal JETS.ru, the new TopFlight magazine and the wonderful publication Jet which recently celebrated its third anniversary.

There are many facts and figures in TopFlight magazine. We often refer to them due to our company profile. That is why we are interested in being in this magazine. Moreover TopFlight is actively spread in Vnukovo-3 terminal which is the gateway for most Russian aircraft owners and bizav flyers.

JETS.ru portal has already become a serious tool in Russia. It’s already possible to order charters through the website quotation system – this service is still unique in Russia. Moreover there is quite a number of airplanes and helicopters for sale on the site.

These three media projects are of much interest to us as they are oriented on business aviation. We are going to cooperate with these publications as they are very convenient for keeping the market informed of our activities.