12 January 2023
Team Acumen
Acumen Aviation Releases 2022 Operational Review
Dublin – 12-01-2023: Acumen Aviation, a leading Aircraft Asset Management Company is pleased to release its 2022 Operational Review.
2022 was a year of growth and learning, resulting in several new opportunities for Acumen. One key development was the acquisition of our major shareholder Air Works Group by Adani Defence and Aerospace. Full release on this matter here - https://www.adanidefence.com/newsroom/media-release/Adani-Defence-and-Aerospace-to-acquire-Air-Works-for-an-enterprise-value-of-INR-400-Crore.
Lease management, structuring advisory, trading, and remarketing all remained stable despite the prevailing winds that continued to buffet the aviation industry. Acumen recorded ten SPVs under management and supported a combined pool of twenty-four aircraft leased across the globe, with most funds backed by US and Japanese investors. Acumen has been mandated by various operators and boutique lessors to source, trade and remarket aircraft; is now participating in various aircraft investment opportunities and will now act as a co-investor and servicer to asset-owning entities. During this period Acumen has also been mandated to provide strategic structuring advisory services for a fund based in Ireland, specifically regarding investments in P2F converted aircraft.
Although global asset transition activity remained commercially frustrated across the sector, the Technical and Asset Management (TAM) team, part of Acumen’s Consultancy arm, continued to make confident strides and successfully secured a plethora of new clients across the globe, including some new operators. Key projects included end-to-end technical support on aircraft redeliveries, both on-site as well as through the deployment of remote records reviews and included a total of over seventy engine management projects. Leveraging its experience in representing the lessors during aircraft redeliveries, Acumen used its knowledge and expertise to assist in minimizing cost and exposure during such aircraft returns.
Advisory services recorded a surge in enquiries during this term, securing several new clients and registering an additional demand for more than four hundred bi-annual aircraft inspections. The total number of asset appraisals performed exceeded six hundred and just shy of one hundred assets were valued for ABS. Chief Intelligence Officer, Amit Tyagi, and Chief Technical Officer – Digital, Ameya Gore, both successfully qualified as ISTAT certified senior appraisers and Acumen’s proprietary online asset valuations application, fin-S, also successfully launched.
The CAMO team, also forming part of Acumen’s Consultative service cluster, was rewarded for its effort by being successfully awarded EASA Part-CAMO certification from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) under Approval No. IE.CAMO.117. In addition, it successfully expanded its CAMO capabilities, adding CAMO approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI) for Cayman registered aircraft. This CAACI approval is one of four approvals now held by the CAMO team, including EASA, Guernsey and BCCA, enabling a more comprehensive geographical reach. Acumen has continued to grow industry credibility by maintaining valued clients through new and extended agreements, whilst simultaneously continuing to develop its customer network. In addition, Acumen transitioned to a new Maintenance Management System (MMS) during this period, development of which took many hours of validation and a development of management procedures. Regulatory approval for this system was given in December 2022, and with the addition of this product, Acumen will be well positioned to provide customers with a more efficient and tailored service.
The Digital Transformation and technology consulting services has been offering unparalleled solutions to customers in software design, selection, maintenance, and enhancement. Acumen’s digital transformation business has continued to build on its earlier successes, creating a strong collaborative customer base. During 2022, it enhanced and improved the existing solutions in the SPARTA platform as well as invested efforts in innovative technologies including 3D digital twins for solving complex problems and delivering more value to its customers. Firms have continued to identify the value to their business through the adoption of digital platforms to manage their growing fleets and cover risk in a more efficient, comprehensive manner. Acumen was able to actively apply its unique combination of domain and sector knowledge to interpret and create the sector-centric solutions required. This period also saw the enhancement of two key applications, CommVerge: providing future projections for engines, airframe, APU and landing gear, and fin-S: a professionally validated online valuations system for the computation of a wide range of industry aircraft.
Data Management (DM) team continues to manage data for more than one thousand assets. This service, again part of the Consultative group, encompasses the ongoing management of records for live assets; professional digitising and indexing, and commercial activities including, monthly utilisation review, MR invoice reporting, MR reconciliation, and forecasting end of lease adjustments. Included, within the number of data platforms the DM team can support, it successfully added AMOS support to its list of services. This was in answer to the needs of a key operator in the Middle East, the scope of which encompasses stores, components, maintenance, and engineering.
Acumen’s Training team continued to provide educational services to the aviation community. Acumen provided certificates, professional diplomas and a post graduate program centred around the topics of aircraft leasing, financing, and technical asset management. Acumen enrolled more than one hundred and twenty candidates within the period.
In the most challenging of times Acumen has continued to deliver; providing turnkey solutions and, through the deployment of a full complement of professional disciplines at its disposal, continues to help clients achieve their desired outcome, whether that be asset investment, management, divestment, or wealth strategy.
About Acumen Aviation
Acumen is an aircraft asset lease manager with a global platform, established in 2009, headquartered in Ireland with offices in India, China and the USA. Acumen’s management team has over 300 years of cumulative experience with a permanent staff of over 90 people. Acumen offers a full range of services throughout the lifecycle of the aircraft including aircraft sourcing, pre-purchase inspections (physical and records), project management, lease management, re-marketing, fleet audits, aircraft trading, powerplant management, aircraft valuations and CAMO services. Acumen embraces new technologies and has a dedicated digital business arm providing market driven products and services to the sector. This includes Acumen’s state-of-the-art asset management ERP platform, SPARTA, as well as its digital success advisory (DSA), offering specific software development and design solutions to help clients meet the challenges and requirements of the digital age. Its customers include aircraft lessors, airlines, banks, private equity and investors.
For more information please contact:
Acumen Press Office: America
Location: Florida, USA
Phone: +1 954 999 8060
sean.oconnor@acumen.aero
Acumen Press Office: China
Location: Beijing, China
Phone: +861062434080
livia.liu@acumen.aero
Acumen Press Office: Europe
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Phone: +353 86 2424777
martin.corcoran@acumen.aero
Acumen Press Office: Central Asia
Location: GIFT City, India
Phone: +91 9004689225
ankit.harbhajanka@acumen.aero