Smart Aviation

Smart Aviation is an air charter broker based in Crawley, West Sussex, close to London Gatwick. The company was founded in October 2005 by Mark Hawkins, who remains managing director and has a background in sports charter and travel operations. It started out in a small rented office on Crawley High Street.

As a broker, Smart Aviation does not operate its own aircraft. It arranges flights with third-party operators, covering private jets, helicopters and larger commercial aircraft for groups. It also arranges ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) leasing agreements, and UK aviation press has reported on the launch of a cargo division.

Much of its reported work involves group movements, such as flying supporters to football finals and arranging pilgrimage flights to Lourdes. The company reports having flown more than a million business and leisure passengers over its first two decades.

Flyers comparing brokers may want to ask which operators would fly a given trip and what safety audits those operators hold, since no broker accreditation was found in the sources reviewed.