Founded

1996

Headquarters

London

Key People

BBA Aviation Group chief executive Mark Johnstone

Number of Employees

5,200

Phone Number

1+ (973)-624-1660

Website

Signature Flight Support

Signature Flight Support

The largest division of the U.K.’s BBA Aviation, Signature Flight Support provides FBO and associated ground-handling services at some 200 airports worldwide, fuel at about 400 facilities, and maintenance at select locations.

After entering the business aviation arena in the 1980s, publicly traded British industrial conglomerate BBA Group (BBA) bought and combined Butler Aviation, whose operations included FBOs, and Page Avjet, an executive aircraft interiors outfitter, in 1992. BBA also established Signature Flight Support to provide FBO services for business and general aviation and then continued to acquire FBOs and aviation business that included FBOs in subsequent years, often later divesting the non-FBO portions of those latter entities.

In 2006, BBA rebranded its aviation division as BBA Aviation and by the end of 2008, Signature had almost 95 FBO locations. The company introduced its Signature TechnicAir maintenance service at select locations in 2011. In 2012, having added 20 more owned locations, Signature launched its Signature Select licensing program to bring independent FBOs into its network.

In 2016, BBA acquired Landmark Aviation, a major U.S.-based charter, management, and FBO provider, adding 62 locations and bringing the Signature network to more than 200 FBOs worldwide. Prohibited by law from owning a charter certificate due to its foreign ownership, BBA partnered in 2017 with Gama Aviation, a U.S.-based division of the U.K.’s publicly traded Gama Group Ltd., to create Gama Aviation Signature, transferring Landmark’s charter and management business to the latter entity, with BBA taking a 49 percent stake. (BBA also divested FBOs in half a dozen Landmark locations that would have given Signature an FBO monopoly at those airports.)

BBA acquired its long-time fuel supplier Epic Aviation in 2018, adding it to the Signature portfolio. Uber Elevate named Signature as the first infrastructure provider for its proposed eVTOL passenger terminals in June 2019.

Signature Offerings

FBOs: FBO facilities at more than 200 owned and some 18 Signature Select locations worldwide.

Fuel: Aviation fuel provided to more than 400 Signature, Signature Select, and independent FBOs.

Maintenance: Signature TechnicAir provided at 16 U.S. locations, and two U.K. sites, in addition to mobile AOG support.