GMAA.L Share News (GMAA)

(ShareCast News) - AIM listed aviation services company Gama Aviation took off as its European ground division signed a Europe-wide maintenance agreement with France's air taxi service WIJET.Gama Aviation will provide full base and line maintenance support for WIJET's fleet of 15 Cessna Citation Mustangs from its base in Oxford, in addition to providing aircraft on the ground (AOG) support across Europe to ensure aircraft availability.Wijet serves 1,200 airports, which according to Gama Aviation is comparable to an average of just 300 airports. Last September, Wijet acquired its English competitor, Blink. The company's unique selling point is that it charges a flat fee of €2,400 per hour for all of its flights, on an all-inclusive basis.The agreement comes at a time of growth for Gama Aviation's Oxford base with the base considerably adding to its EASA and FAA maintenance approvals over the last six months. It now supports the WIJET's aircraft Citation Mustang as well as the 560 XLS, King Air 90-300 series, Learjet 45 and Premier 1, and larger aircraft such as Bombardier's Global, Challenger and Embraer's Legacy series.Head of Maintenance at WIJET Pat Marchant said: "Our business is reliant on maintaining aircraft availability. Gama Aviation has a long history of providing mission critical support to fleets around the world and as such is an ideal partner to provide maintenance support across Europe."Chief Executive of Gama Aviation Marwan Khalek said: "Following the National Police Air Service (NPAS) contract win, the European Ground business has continued its strong start to the year. This deal demonstrates the scale, breadth and depth of our ground offer; its benefit to clients who value mission critical support and our ability to grow our business organically worldwide."The share price of Gama Aviation rose 7.87% to 217.90p at 1019 GMT on Tuesday.