Media Releases

Beijing  —  Jet Aviation recently announced the appointment of Lutz Wierschin as vice president and general manager and Paul Desgrosseilliers as director FBO services of the company's Beijing joint venture with Beijing-based Deer Air and Hong Kong-based Reach Investment. Both managers will start their new assignment on July 1, 2009. Through the joint venture company, Beijing BAC Co. Ltd, Jet Aviation provides FBO and line maintenance services at Beijing's Capital International Airport (PEK). Wierschin will succeed Helmut Wegner, who served as interim general manager in Beijing since November 2008.

Wierschin, who previously worked in China with Ameco Beijing, joined Jet Aviation in Basel in early 2008 as director maintenance shops where he has been in charge of the overall organization and coordination of all maintenance shops. Paul Desgrosseilliers has been working for Jet Aviation since 2002 and was responsible for managing ground and facility operations at the company's Boston/Bedford FBO.

Jet Aviation and Deer Air, a subsidiary of HNA Group, signed a joint venture agreement in April 2008 under which the two companies operate a FBO and line maintenance facility at Beijing's Capital International Airport. The joint venture has leased space in the FBO at Beijing Capital International Airport and is fully licensed to provide business aircraft and ground handling services. Wierschin and Desgrosseilliers will work closely with joint venture partners Deer Air and Reach Investment in further developing business aircraft support capability in Beijing, a move welcomed by local officials and regulatory authorities in this fast growing market. Wierschin will report directly to Christof Späth, Jet Aviation's senior vice president MRO & FBO services for EMEA & Asia.

As an industry veteran of 28 years, Wierschin started his aviation career in 1981 as an avionic shop supervisor at Lufthansa Airlines in Hamburg, Germany. He went on to manage the construction and operation of avionic workshops in China with Ameco Beijing, a joint venture between Air China and Lufthansa Technik, where he gained significant insight into the Asian market. After a six-year assignment, he built up Lufthansa Technik Component Services in Dallas, Texas, as general manager before he was appointed vice president of California-based Hawker Pacific Aerospace's Component Services' business unit. Wierschin holds a degree in Electronic and Digital Data Processing from the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg.

Desgrosseilliers most recently served as operations manager for Jet Aviation's Boston-Bedford, Mass., FBO and was responsible for 35 employees in the line service, aircraft cleaning, ground support and facilities departments as well as the operation of the FBO passenger terminal.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Science from Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Mass., and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts, in Lowell, Mass.

"I am very pleased that Lutz Wierschin and Paul Desgrosseilliers have accepted their new assignments. Together they bring tremendous know-how of the aviation industry as well as outstanding maintenance and FBO skills. Wierschin's extensive experience from living and working in China for six years will be a great asset to the company. I am confident that both will successfully manage our Beijing FBO and line maintenance facility," says Christof Späth. "I want to thank Helmut Wegner for his invaluable contributions in setting up our operations in China," adds Späth.