Lionhouse acquires Rizon Jet UK

Steve Hughes, COO (left) with Allan McGreal, CEO of Rizon Jet UK (Credit: Terry Spruce)

Rizon Jet UK has been acquired by Lionhouse, the aircraft finance and leasing company. Rizon Jet UK was owned by a Qatar based company.

Allan McGreal, CEO of Rizon Jet UK made the announcement at last week’s EBACE in Geneva during a drinks reception on the 328 Support Services stand.

Rizon Jet UK is also buying GroupJET. GroupJET comprises of the JETS maintenance facilities at Biggin Hill and Bournemouth. The two companies will remain separated and operate independently.

McGreal did not release any financial details about the Lionhouse or GroupJET acquisitions at EBACE. Signature Flight Support will remain as a tenant at the JETS facility at Biggin Hill.

The facility at Bournemouth supports Hawker, early variant Citation and Dornier maintenance. He mentioned that Bournemouth does not have a VIP FBO at the airport and now that the local football team has been promoted to the top-tier of English football, many more business aviation movements might be made to attend games at Bournemouth. Clearly, this is an immediate opportunity for the company to develop an FBO facility at the airport.

The JETS Biggin Hill facility is now headed by David Elam, who has been there since the end of last year. It is waiting for approval from Dassault for a number of AOG approvals, adding to its capabilities.