Charles Alcock is managing editor of the AIN Media Group, having rejoined the company in 2019. He has been an aviation journalist since 1986, and previously worked for AIN from 1990 to 2017, most recently as editor-in-chief. His main focus is on covering new aviation technology and business models, as well as international news.
Having been raised in the London area, Alcock studied at the University of Manchester in the UK and earned an honors degree in Politics and Modern History. He speaks English and French, and some German.

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has certified Aero-Dienst to provide support for locally registered aircraft as an approved maintenance organization. The Germany-based business aviation services group announced the approval on Tuesday at the MEBAA Show.
With GCAA’s CAR 145 certificate issued, Aero-Dienst intends to expand its maintenance, repair, and overhaul services in the Gulf state. Business aircraft fleet numbers and activity levels have continued to increase in both the UAE and neighboring Gulf states, it said.
Aero-Dienst now holds maintenance approvals from 11 national aviation authorities. According to Daniel Pedreiro Correia, the company’s strategic customer relations and business development manager, it expects to see increased demand to support UAE-based jets at its main Nuremberg facility, which operates 24/7.
“The CAR 145 certification underlines once again our commitment to the highest standards of quality and procedures that we provide to our customers,” Correia said.
Last week, Aero-Dienst announced a capacity expansion to handle aircraft-on-ground (AOG) responses by expanding its maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) workforce. It has thus established new teams dedicated to AOG support for Bombardier and Dassault Falcon business jets, with each staffed by a pair of specialist technicians.
The new AOG responders work independently of scheduled daily MRO work at Aero-Dienst’s Nuremberg headquarters, allowing them to stay focused on the most pressing needs of customers. During spikes in demand from operators needing immediate support, the new teams can call on colleagues for backup.
In AOG incidents, operators make direct contact with these technicians, who are authorized to make decisions about how support will be provided quickly. The AOG teams are backed up by Aero-Dienst’s other departments, including travel management, maintenance planning, purchasing, and customer care.
“Deploying standalone AOG teams represents a win-win situation both for our customers in AOG cases and for planned downtimes in hangars,” said Florian Heinzelmann, Aero-Dienst’s head of maintenance. “This gives us a high degree of flexibility, and, at the same time, the required stability and long-term planning efficiency in basic maintenance because there is no need to remove staff for AOG cases at short notice.”
Aero-Dienst was founded in 1958 and also operates MRO bases at Vienna and Klagenfurt in Austria and at Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, as well as a component repair shop at Landsberg am Lech in Germany. The company provides MRO services for business aircraft operators in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and has dispatched AOG technicians as far afield as South Korea and the Bahamas.

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