Monaco Air Duluth Continued from page 39 Monaco Air Duluth has made a significant investment in fuel and deicing trucks, as well as other ground-handling equipment. Monaco Air Duluth, a Shell- branded FBO, maintains an above- ground fuel complex with a total capacity of 130,000 gallons. Of that, 100,000 is Jet-A, stored in four tanks of 25,000 gallons each. The three additional tanks—10,000 gal- lons each—store avgas, diesel, and unleaded motor fuel, respectively. A fleet of 10 refuelers—which includes six for Jet-A—dispenses fuel directly into aircraft. Magni reported that 90 percent of the several million gal- lons uplifted annually is jet fuel. He added that the FBO has agreements and strong relationships in place with all the major contract fuel providers: “We recognized very early that they would be important to our ability to grow our tech stop business.” Fuel sales are split mainly among the tech stop/destination busi- ness and general aviation aircraft, as well as the scheduled airlines which serve Duluth, and the mili- tary. In the latter case, Monaco Air Duluth is a Department of Defense (DoD) contract holder, providing fuel to transient military aircraft flying through Duluth. “It is also a back-up fuel provider for the 148th Fighter Wing of the Minnesota Air National Guard,” he said. The operation is also a preferred FBO for the major jet fractional own- ership plans. However, with a limited number of tenant aircraft currently at the facility, the scheduled airlines, transient business and owner-flown aircraft, and the military currently account for better than 90 percent of Monaco Air Duluth’s fuel revenue. “Airline services are an important part of our business,” Magni stated. “We provide into-plane fueling for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Air Canada, Sun Country, and Xtra Airways, as well as the major cargo carriers, including UPS and FedEx. We also perform ground handling, either directly, or by partnering with the airline ground handler. As examples, we provide aircraft deicing and AOG [Aircraft on Ground] main- tenance to both Delta and United through Delta Global Services. For Sun Country and Xtra, we provide an entire complement of above-wing and below-wing services, including ticket- ing, passenger boarding, cleaning, potable water, and baggage han- dling—as well as into-plane fueling.” Along with fuel sales, and airline line service, Monaco Air Duluth is an authorized Cirrus Aircraft Service Center and Cessna Service Center, and a limited service fa- cility for Avidyne Avionics. “We are fortunate to have very strong relationships with each of these companies,” said Magni. “Having Cirrus headquartered on the field certainly creates unique opportunities where we can often partner on special projects that benefit both companies. The com- pany also provides composite repair services to the manufacturer of light, general aviation airplanes.” Magni highlighted Monaco Air Duluth’s growing relationship with AAR Corp, which established a major maintenance, repair and modifica- tion facility, catering to commercial jets, at DLH. “For AAR at Duluth, we provide fueling services, deic- ing and ground equipment mainte- nance,” he explained. “AAR has not Continued on page 42 Aviation Business Journal | 1st Quarter 2016 41
