Aero Toy Store taking over Stansted Diamond Hangar?

[Punch]

Evening all,

Has anyone else heard the Stansted rumour mill on the above? I've heard that its 90% true but no one seems to have any informtion on what they will actually be doing or what services they will be offering?

I'm working on the believing and seeing but the lack of info is driving me nuts? Maybe I should ignore the airport gossips.....

Cheer's,
Punch:ouch:

[TUGNBAR]

That will be one big Toy Store!!

If you choose to listen to the rumours at this airport you will become nuts like many on here!!...answer is dont listen to the rumours.

[merlinxx]

Keep thier rather large collection of pre-owned in Europe/Mid east

[ericthepilot]

The owner (***) of Aero (ex-Auto) Toy Store is quiet a character. Over 20 years in the making and still not of the face of the earth.
In the beginning there was Auto Toy Store in Fort Lauderdale. Famous for cars with mileage changes, and parts that were made to fit on others. The Ferrari's with timing belts of Fords and many more exotic examples. The further the owner came from the better, as he was less likely to knock on his door. Argentinians and Brazilians got taken for very expensive rides.

The he went into aviation. Aero Toy Store. High (very) time Hawkers and Challengers (old) with brand new paint and interior (sometimes not so working) were sold to foreigners for ransom prices. Promises of range and capabilities told by commission sales people that owners never could duplicate. And as they too came from far away places, recourse was a hassle to settle the arguments.

Pilots were as a revolving door, as long you had a type some kind of history of currency and at least passed a medical, you could sit in it and do a sales demo flight. Under Part 91 legal as long as it was not charter. But there was a charter department in the building, so who were they using ? Yep the planes on their ramp.
So many pilots did some time there but as your recurrent came up, promises never were kept and after your 13th month you were out of a job. paychecks were always kept one in a rear as a ransom to get you back to work. I have seen so many Chief Pilots trying to do the right thing, only to be fired or leave out of frustration and not burning their own career for the future.

The lack of knowledge of owners and desperate pilots has kept this man in business. For those who are willing to work with this man a word of advice.
None of the contracts or papers drawn up are held up and any dispute will be a lengthy battle to get your money so kind of reprieve.
You will end up with pennies/cents on the dollar/pound/euro.
Many pilots I have known have skirted the boundaries of legality or lost their currencies. It is not a place you would even send your enemies to.
I hope our community of watchful and prudent pilot friends gets a really good look at how a man can have his own helicopter, fly around South Florida and "make" his money and yet has impoverished so many families and those who worked in maintenance or completion for this company.
Stansted does not need this operation nor anywhere else in Europe.

Be careful our out there

:ok:

[silverware]

Eric,

I met the owner at Ebace last May, he indeed has that shady-thirdhand-expensive car vibe going for him.
That said, from my own experience and reading all the posts on this forum, our industry seems to be overflowing with gritty characters how do not really have any decent values whatsoever........

[ericthepilot]

I rather not have any of my aviation enthusiasts get burned by this character ....

[TUGNBAR]

Thought I would bring this thread back to the boil! Just under a year ago the thread was started about Aero Toy Store and it seemed to come to nothing however this is a talking point that I have heard from several airport persons so there maybe some truth in it this time?

[noneya]

He is a shyster! Ask anyone in corporate aviation that has worked within 500 miles of his operation.

I for one did a contract trip for him and it took my friend who was the Chief Pilot there for a short time to threaten to quit for him to pay me. Which by the way was 5 months after I did the trip.

I could go on and on!

Stay away
J

[Papadelta]

I sold him a car once upon a time.

My neighbor was his close friend when they grew up together.

All your comments are valid.

Careful out there. :uhoh:

[Bergkamp10]

Has this actually happened yet?

[wallism]

EBACE: Aero Toy Store prepares to open FBO at London Stansted (http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/ebace-aero-toy-store-prepares-to-open-fbo-at-london-stansted-371909/)

[TheOtherSide]

Interesting is all I have to say!

[dc9-32]

Makes sense and gives UV and Harrods a bit of competition :cool:

[G-SPOTs Lost]

Do they have maintenance aspirations?

It's a big hangar! There's only so many airliner derived Bizjets to persuade to be hangared at the place

[pattaya pete]

Is that the same Mike Foley that was previously at Oceansky Manchester?

[fernytickles]

Could anyone have taken a crapier "PR" photo if they'd tried? Looks like the bloke on the steps is in acute pre-gastric barotrauma discomfort, & yon smiley bloke just popped up in front of the camera at the last minute as the button was being pressed....

http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getasset.aspx?itemid=45716

[learjet50]

yep its the same man as at Ocean sky

Say no more

[PPE]

Haha what a joke! Shows you how desperate the BAA are letting these crooks in!

[Romaro]

Crikey, have this lot really done their homework? What with a new lounge for Universal and Harrods and Inflite to battle against, Stansted has a fraction of the business aviation traffic that say Luton has. Does take some biz airliners of course, but they'll be lucky to take one or two rotations a day off Harrods, UV or Inflite

Average year to date business aviation departures for the London region:

Luton 34 (between Harrods, Signature, Ocean Sky)
Farnborough 28 (All TAG)
Biggin Hill 15 (between Biggin hill Handlling, Jet Aviation & Rizon)
Northolt 11 (includes all RAF Hawker movements though)
London City 9
Oxford 8
Stansted 6 (between UV, Harrods, Inflite)
Heathrow 3
Cambridge 3

On those stats they may take about 50 years to get a return on the investment! Think it's more likely to be a storage depot for hardware for sale rather than an 'FBO'.

[LGW Vulture]

Aero Crook Store expanding a crumbling empire.

Nothing to see here, move on everyone............:rolleyes:

[ericthepilot]

As with their car sales in S FL and airplane "FBO" operation, they will find a CP that is willing to give 6 months of his life to "sell" the Co to the "walk in" pilots. Buyers will flock to newly painted a/c with 10.000+ hrs airframes.
Promises will be made, many will rotate in and out. They have an in with Bombardier so new a/c will be sold to eager new owners, not willing to negotiate and wait with the manufacturer.
As they were in KFXE and tried but not forgotten by the pilot community, a new sucker is born every minute and they will look you in the eye and tell you it is the best for your aviation future.

Many did, and unfortunately more will follow ...

[Gulfstreamaviator]

New FBO at London Stansted for Aero Toy Store
Florida's Aero Toy Store, the world's largest pre-owned private jet sales specialists, is establishing itself in Europe by taking over the Diamond Hangar (formerly occupied by SR Technics) at London Stansted Airport.
The 250,000 sq ft facility can accommodate a range of aircraft from private jets to VVIP widebodies and boasts one of the largest FBOs in Europe.
With a refurbishment budget of $2m, Aero Toy Store's highly skilled team will create a state-of-the-art, five-star experience with exceptional attention to detail across all aviation requirements, passenger service and crew facilities. The refurbishment will be completed in good time for the London Olympics.
Asked, 'Why London?' Ben Shirazi, CEO of Aero Toy Store Europe, said, “We feel London, is the most central destination of the world, wherever you do business, London features consistently on the travellers itinerary.” He continued, “London’s Stansted offers superb operational flexibility 24 hours a day without any of the major restrictions and congestion issues many of the main London airports face." read more (http://www.blueskynews.aero/issue_177/New_FBO_at_LondonStansted_for_AeroToyStore.htm)

[PPE]

How can they compete in what is already a cutthroat business! Inflite Universal Harrods aren't exactly bursting at the seams! Neither are all the other recently well established "London" FBO's. You even have Execujet up the road taking business away. I seriously see this as going down the pan before its even begun. I feel sorry for the 50 or so employees that they expect to take on from the local community! The summer needs to be VERY busy for this company because it will be a long cold winter and thats a big hangar to heat! Be careful what you wish for!

[maligee]

A BIG..YES..
They (ATS) are there at the Diamond Hangar!
Refurbishment of the old SRT place is under way.

[TUGNBAR]

Ive heard a few people have now departed ATS....is this the beginning of the end! I decided to take a little looksie round recently and didn't see much if any activity. Doors wide open with an Easyjet inside i guess for SRT not a biz jet in site??.

[Monkey Boy]

So SG will be heading up this little operation too will he?

[merlinxx]

you lot have worked out the connection between ATS & Ocean Sky yet ? That is not just the movement of bodies etc !

[ericthepilot]

Amazing with the power of the internet, people don't do their due diligence on research. And oops something goes wrong again.
I guess it's true, a sucker is born every minute, even in this day and age ...

Sorry

[learjet50]

(are the North of Englands answer to Del Boy and Rodney i e Messers Foley and Fontain syill in charge >>

How many of the 50 Jobs promised been filled yet with the massive increase of traffic they have gained since there Take over ???

[merlinxx]

naughty corner, you know you shouldn't ask questions about these good upstanding folks:E:ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

Glad I'm not playing in the game anymore, but still keep an interest:ok:

[PPE]

Not been many movements from what I hear! (I cant see unfortunately) Some of the start up crew have gone already! Maybe they were consultants though! Has anyone seen much business? The Olympics I guess was a good launch pad for them but was all a bit too late?......mind you they did publicise handling some bigjets!

[Hounddog1]

There has been one or two bizjets handled by these guys, nothing dramatic though, the Hanger doors have been opened occasionally and a Challenger wheeled in and out, not sure if same one, seems a Global Express is a regular visitor too.

[hoopla]

Now Fly Majestic - who's AOC?
Del Boy and Rodney still playing stalling games,
Lots of crew & staff still not paid, cheques are not in the post !!

[policepilot]

See Aerotoystore UK web account suspended, as has FlyMajestic's. Perhaps like the crew, the provider is not being paid either.

[cleanyourplane]

I can confirm that they have indeed taken over the diamond hangar, it is an FBO, they are using it for the sale of aircraft and charters (mainly at the mo). They have done a lot to the hangar, New Entrance/Lobby area and Painted the Whole hangar floor white (looks very fresh). I hear and read bad things about them all the time.....but I have to say I have never had any problems with them and can't say a bad thing about their operations (my experience of course), all the people working in the diamond hangar are really friendly and are an extremely helpful bunch. I think as long as your are not an idiot and have done your homework, you should be perfectly safe. There are sharks every where in life and unfortunately they all feed from power and greed, so you must always have the chain mail at the ready.

[TUGNBAR]

This account has been suspended (http://www.flymajestic.co.uk/)
This account has been suspended (http://www.aerotoystore.co.uk/)

What does it mean? its clearly in black and white

[monkey lover]

Finesse Executive ? global charter services, aircraft management, charter (http://www.flyfinesse.com) still works ;)

[mordergery]

Drove by Stansted and the signs are up on the diamond hangar so Aero Toystore must be their.

[UFO999]

It is not a place you would even send your enemies to.

Stansted does not need this operation nor anywhere else in Europe.

[policepilot]

So is MF still running Aerotoystore and FlyFinesse? Websites seem to take time to reflect what's really happening?

[spherejet]

Negative MF gone since last year from diamond it was always being run by ben shirazi of ats flyfinesse sold under new ownership / management :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[STN Ramp Rat]

Border Agency removes illegal Stansted Airport worker | Uttlesford village headlines (http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/News/Uttlesford/Border-Agency-removes-illegal-Stansted-Airport-worker-20130212145849.htm)

it seems that the above story was inacurate

Aero Toy Store: clarification | Uttlesford village headlines (http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/News/Uttlesford/Aero-Toy-Store-clarification-20130226093842.htm)

[VP8]

Looks like they have rooked Uttlesford District Council for business rates of £1.12m owed by them!!

BBC News - Eighteen Aviation at Stansted owes council £1.12m tax (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-22483078)

Eighteen Aviation Limited, trading as Aero Toy Store, keeps aircraft at Stansted Airport and has defaulted on its 2012-13 business rates liability.

Uttlesford District Council took legal proceedings against the firm but was told recovery was "unlikely".

Eighteen Aviation said it was aware of the decision, was working with advisers and was in touch with the council.

The aviation firm is the second largest business ratepayer in the district and occupies the 18-acre Diamond Hangar at Stansted Airport.

Aero Toy Store is based at Fort Lauderdale in Florida and describes itself on a website as "a full service global dealer in transcontinental aircraft".

[STN Ramp Rat]

are they still trading?

[GlobalDriver]

No
ATS has NO presence in the diamond hangar, I was there 4 DAYS AGO!

[dallas]

A little bird tells me - nay has sent me a photo - of a dark cloud being removed from the side of the Diamond Hangar this evening. South Stansted has been liberated from the grip of dark forces and has a bright new future. Good luck Andy and Mark.

[Opsbeatch]

Took off past it this morning and the ATS sign was still up airside...

OB

[private-jet]

Rumour Control boys and girls if I may.

ATS have gone and all associations removed. We are open for FBO business from Monday 17th.

It will be hard to change the mind-set of some of you learned folks but we are here to provide a VIP experience.

We look forward to serving you, this signs are slowly coming down but its a bit windy!!!

Thank you!!

[dc9-32]

Not really advertising then :rolleyes:

[OutsideCAS]

Anyone know what will happen to the £1.12million business rates bill that ATS/Eighteen Aviation needed to pay? take it this new direction is a completely fresh team at the diamond?

[dhc1180]

There was a lovely young blonde girl there when I was handled through aero toy store, but I can't remeber her name... can anyone enlighten me? :ok:

[buzz34]

Foxy Roxy?

[B727loadie]

Glad they have final folded what a Nightmare from the start just hope those that was owed Money got it in the end!

[TOWTEAMBASE]

You may be glad 727,but there some good guys still sat at home not knowing if they have a job still, they have been shafted well and truly