Professional Pilot Training (includes ground studies)A forum for those on the steep path to that coveted professional licence. Whether studying for the written exams, training for the flight tests or building experience here's where you can hang out.
I have closed the old Cabair thread because it was degenerating.
This thread is for those involved to post any relevant information as it comes to hand in order that the aviation community may follow the progress.
I must point out that anything posted should be from 'open source' rather than private letters or emails that the originator would not wish, or be aware of, publication.
Name & Registered Office: CABAIR INTERNATIONAL AVIATION LIMITED 32 CORNHILL LONDON EC3V 3BT Company No. 07464761
Status: In Administration Date of Incorporation: 09/12/2010
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Company Type: Private Limited Company Nature of Business (SIC): None Supplied
Accounting Reference Date: 31/12 Last Accounts Made Up To: (NO ACCOUNTS FILED) Next Accounts Due: 09/09/2012 Last Return Made Up To: Next Return Due: 06/01/2012
Looks like it was only set up last year. Yet other Cabair companies date back to 1991 (Cabair College of Air Training, for example).
Has this one been loaded with all the liabilities and non of the assets ? It seems stange to go into administration before it has even completed a year's trading.
All those 'involved' with commercial training at Cranfield (flying and groundschool) don't really need this thread as we're in communication with Cabair and FL500. If Anyone has been missing out on information they need to speak with FL500 and confirm their name and course they are on against a list of students.
As a Cabair student this is where I am getting my information from.
Current students are unlikely to post lots of information on PPRuNe (and are advised to bite their lip on the Internet) as it could look bad for a company we want to survive and complete our training & help with jobs at the end of our course.
Reading the speculation and words from those not In The Know is comical at times and the motives of some posters is highly questionable.
Speaking to a student last night who is wise to the ways of business, and describing the fact that Cabair is a group, his take is thus...
All of the assets and liabilities will have been loaded onto C.I.A Ltd for their payment of £1 to another Cabair group company.
The assets will very small, and the liabilities will be that of outstandning training commitments for which students will be unsecured creditors. I would guess a payment of 10 to 20p in the £ is all that they will get. And yes, it is legalised theft.
In the meantime the Greed's and Thiefcoat's running it will carry on. I expect revival within 6 months.
Although you grossly over-rate the influence of this site on any business organisation, I think you are absolutley right - this thread ought to be closed and changed to something like "Cabair - a business history for future potential students" for the benefit of those who take a more realistic approach to the business ethics I am afraid prevail.
I will not have the last laugh when it pans out as I predict as I do not think the situation is comical at all.
Mr Moderator - can we close / rename please ? You already have two votes for, and it clearly is of no interest to those already at Cabair.
CIA Ltd. is the parental holding company set up last year with the new ownership of the investor group headed by Clive Dolman, Ludwig Bertsch and Tim Talaat in December.
The previous owners, including Steve Read, became minority owners as all existing companies including those in America were rolled up as subsidiaries of the new CIA Ltd. With CIA Ltd. in administration all of the dependent companies are effectively as well.
Re posting details: I have been on PPRuNe since the mid 90's with hundreds of posts, but none in the past two years. Apparently the join date was reset in 1999 and post count more recently. This further dashes my hope of ever seeing I.F. Snailtrails on here again.
]Historically, the main business of Cabair seems to have been conducted by companies owned by Cabair Holdings Ltd (CHL). In March 2009 (latest available accounts, the March 2010 accounts are overdue) the CHL Directors were Stephen Read, MC Henry, Shahriar Peyami , S Hinton-Lever and MJ Bradley Russell: the latter three were appointed in late 2008. CHL had a positive balance sheet of £5.2M but this consisted almost entirely of the cost of investments in its subsidiaries. Operating profit was £80k.
In May 2010 Flying Pictures Ltd bought 10% of CHL prior to a proposed merger which subsequently does not seem to have happened. Colin Prescot and James Hunter Smart, the CEO and Financial Director respectively of Flying Pictures Ltd were appointed as a Directors of CHL in May 2010 but resigned in October 2010.
In early 2011 three new investors were reported (by Flyer magazine) to be buying the majority of shares in CHL and a new CEO and CFO were appointed. Between December 2010 and April 2011 the entire shareholding of CHL was acquired by Cabair International Aviation Ltd, one of three companies formed immediately prior to this announcement (the others were Cabair (UK) Ltd and Cabair (Overseas) Ltd). No accounts are due to be published yet for these three companies.
Cabair International Aviation Ltd was put into administration in October 2011. The ownership of this company is not recorded as it is too recent to have submitted a return.
CHL subsidiaries are/were - Over The Pond Ltd (which seems to own 65% of the Cabair USA operations), Cabair Helicopters Ltd, World Aviation Holdings Ltd (see below) and Plane Talking Ltd. The latter appears to be an aircraft owning company, with £4.1M of fixed assets on its books at March 2010, but bank borrowings/loans totalled £3.1M and total liabilities exceeded assets by £1.1M, even when a claim of £951k for ‘defective engines’ is assumed to be an asset.
CHL also owns/owned Cabair Group Ltd (CGL). CGL in turn owns/owned Cabair Ltd, Cabair Maintenance Ltd, Cabair Flying Schools Ltd and Cabair College of Air Training Ltd. The latter three are seemingly the active trading companies in CGL. In June 2009 CGL sold European Pilot Training Academy Ltd to World Aviation Holdings Ltd (WAHL - see below) for £2 and sold 100,000 CGL deferred shares to WAHL for £100,000 (but CGL had not been paid by March 2010). CGL also owns about 10 dormant historic companies.
CHL owned World Aviation Holdings Ltd until it sold it in December 2008 for £160k, at a loss to CHL of £176k. Stephen Read, MC Henry, Shahriar Peyami and MJ Bradley Russell were shareholders and directors of WAHL at 31 March 2010. WAHL owns Wycombe Air Centre Ltd and bought 80% of Worldwide Aviation Ltd (aircraft maintenance company) for £280k during the year ended March 2009. As noted above, WAHL also acquired European Pilot Training Academy Ltd from CGL in June 2009. All the WAHL shares were acquired by Cabair International Aviation Ltd in December 2010.
Cabair Consultants Ltd and Cabair International Ltd are dormant companies.
What are the criteria in section 17 that is considered 'evidence for sufficient funding'? Should there be a tick box for 'previous fiduciary history' and 'moral courage'?
My understanding of the current situation is that all the other parts of Cabair that are "unnecessary" to the survival of commercial training at Cranfield have been either wound up, sold off in management buyouts or bought by the previous owners.
The situation for students isn't a bleak as you might think, that's all I'm saying for now.
That's probably what the Phoenix partnership told Nu Labour when taking over Rover, before winding up and trousering the last 11 Million squids, driving into the sunset in their - er - BMWs.
Last edited by rmcb; 3rd Nov 2011 at 17:01.
Reason: Added text
TFC offers a clue as to what may be happening here, 4reds.
Handson shows that the whole group is defunct, yet there are not stacks of angry students may tens of £k out of pocket ranting away on this thread - a situation unique in the history of PPRuNe !
Perhaps as TFC say, there is a deal on the cards to meet their outstanding training liabilities by ducking the debts to airfields, fuel supplies, aircraft leases etc and all the other "unecessary" bits to commercial flight training. At of cost of say an extra £10-15k per student over and above what they already have paid ?
A triumph for the NuCabair ! They did the right thing for all those students who paid up front....
The ones who need to watch out are those who follow - just as with all pyramid selling schemes.
As TFC comments in his last snotty reponse, the Cabair bunch are keeping it all in-house and are not going to say anything. OK, best of luck to all of them.
But perhaps these "Greek practices" may be of interest to those considering NuCabair in the future ? Those that do their research and come across this thread, that is.
WWW....... hit the nail on the head. Why indeed not look elsewhere if you're not yet committed to them?
I feel desperately sorry for the students involved in this mess, yet again the guys and girls handing over the money for training are up for a shafting. Surely time for the CAA to become more actively involved in the regulation of FTO's?!?!?!
As a past student (who left for another FTO along with almost everyone else on my course as soon as we could after completing modular groundschool), Cabair is an absolute shower of brown smelly stuff and having seen first hand how it treats students, I'm not surprised that it's going down the pan.
Best of luck to those involved. I hope purely for your sakes that this is resolved quickly.
But perhaps these "Greek practices" may be of interest to those considering NuCabair in the future ? Those that do their research and come across this thread, that is.
Without turning this into a race row.
Your comments on 'Greek practices' are downright ignorant, uncalled for and frankly racist, be careful what you write and stick to the topic or this will end up a political thread.
1) The lady working in Marketing was, in her words, officially made redundant
today. I got this from an open FB page.
2) In the December issue of FLYER, which came out over the weekend,
there was a short article by Cabair International Ltd CEO about an
imminent (by the end of the week) resolution to the 'restructuring', with
exisiting students expected to pay between an additional £10-15k .
Bearing in mind printing and delivery times I imagine the interview was
given at the end of October.
I think this ship has sailed. nevertheless I would LOVE to be PRIVY to the info held by T.F.C and others.
