With one of the highest costs of living in sub-Saharan Africa, Portuguese-speaking Angola remains one of the more impenetrable markets for most international bizav players.

One Angolan national who cut his teeth flying Boeing 747s is doing something about it. Nuno Pereira, CEO of Luanda-based BestFly Flight Support, had a clear idea of what he wanted to achieve at the outset: VIP ground handling at service levels customers demand in other parts of the world.

BestFly was established in November 2009 by Pereira and four others, and “in less than a year, we became market leaders at Luanda International Airport, with about 50 percent market share,” he told AIN. Last year the company recorded growth of approximately 25 percent, Today, it employs about 130 people, and has 15 to 20 daily movements from a mix of local and foreign customers. Its strategy is to create a brand name and one-stop shop for aviation, especially business aviation, in Angola.

With that in mind, Pereira explained, “We provide first-world service levels for business jets in Angola. These services are provided at our FBO where we have on-site 24-hour customs and immigration services. We can supply local charter services with one of our managed fleet on our Angolan AOC. In the near future, BestFly will also own an international AOC focusing on the Angolan and regional market. We can also supply fuel in Angola.”

On the handling side, for every 10 flights that land in Angola at least eight are handled by BestFly, according to Pereira. In 2014, BestFly’s FBO handled approximately 10,000 passengers transiting the FBO, he claimed, and he expects that number to grow exponentially with the award of a new contract. The company is expanding the FBO to ensure it has capacity.

BestFly’s managed fleet of 13 private aircraft is one of the largest in Angola, representing interests outside the usual concerns, public-fund and oil-related interests. The company expects more aircraft to join the fleet soon.

BestFly started aircraft management services mainly as a private operator but it has been working closely with the Angolan CAA to get its Angolan AOC because of its fleet size and the fact that it had been advising owners of the advantages of charter as a way to lower their operating costs,. The approval will include BestFly’s fleet of Angolan registered-aircraft–four King Airs and a Hawker 400 and Caravan–and all Angolan-registered aircraft that join the fleet in the future. BestFly is also planning to obtain an AOC to allow the charter of foreign-registered aircraft, an approval it expects to receive by the end of next year’s first quarter.

BestFly claims to be FBO market leader in Angola, where it sees a good deal of potential when the economy recovers from the slowdown that is the result of softness in the oil and gas market. “We are taking this slower time as the time to consolidate and make our processes more efficient and more customer friendly,” he said.

In addition to its full FBO in Luanda, the company has VIP Lounges in Lubango and Catumbela and is planning to open a new VIP Lounge in another city in Angola to cope with the new challenges ahead.

The company had planned a new Part 145 line station in Luanda, but that project has stalled with the cancellation of an MoU signed with a potential partner. It is now pursuing certification from the Angolan CAA (INAVIC) to work on D2 (Angolan Registry) aircraft by year-end. It will limit MRO services to its managed fleet until it secures a replacement partner.