O’Sullivan takes chair of EBAA working group.

Aoife O’Sullivan, partner at
Gates and Partners, has taken the chair of the AMAC Finance and Leasing working
group. The recently created Associate Members Advisory Committee (AMAC) is
intended to provide a forum where operators and associate members can share their views on subjects of common interest through a variety of working
groups. The Finance and Leasing forum will focus on dealing with the challenge
of reduced financing options as it explores and identifies new means of
finance. It will also promote solutions at a European level that aim to reduce
risks from a financier’s perspective.

The group will bring
together operators, manufacturers, financiers and insurers to review and assess
aircraft finance in business aviation. On an ongoing basis AMAC will cover a
wide variety of subjects pertinent to the business aviation community.
O’Sullivan has a great deal of experience and is well placed to chair this
important group.

O’Sullivan took up the new role as chair on 1 March
2012 when the first focus group met in at the EBAA offices in Brussels. O’Sullivan’s colleague and fellow partner,
Sean Gates, also forms part of the AMAC Insurance workshop group. Gates has
been voted year on year best aviation insurance lawyer worldwide by Who’s Who
and combined they bring together the different expert aspects of the firm to
the EBAA forums.

Gates and Partners is
already running its own schedule of aviation seminars designed to provide its
clients with background information on the owning and operating of aircraft and
also a forum in which to meet other industry leaders in a small target group.
“Our existing seminars have proved very successful for our clients and
have served to bring together an influential network of aviation professionals
who can exchange ideas and learn more about how to handle the challenges of
owning and operating an aircraft'” O’Sullivan said. The seminars, which
normally welcome about 60 guests, cover a wealth of aviation topics connected
with finance, insurance, security, registration, regulation and record keeping,
and are becoming increasingly popular as word spreads about their excellent
content and information provision. They have also high-lighted a number of
knowledge gaps in the market which will steer future topics. “We know
aviation, it’s what we do day in and day out, so we really are in a strong
position to provide this kind of educational platform. Combined with the AMAC
Finance and Leasing group, we are able to encourage and provide excellent
opportunities to collate and then disseminate valuable information to an even
wider audience” she continues.

O’Sullivan will be speaking
at the EBAA Safety Workshop and the Transactions Conference both to be held on
13 May 2012 during EBACE.