Up & Away Aviation (Up & Away), a supplier of aircraft cleaning and detailing services to commercial airline and private aviation clients, has been acquired by Unifi Aviation (Unifi). Unifi is the USA's largest ground aviation services company, part of the Argenbright Group. The deal was signed by Up & Away Aviation founder and CEO Stefan Murphy and Unifi CEO Gautam Thakkar at the UK company's London Oxford Airport UK HQ.
The agreement has been formalised as Up & Away prepares to open its 13. base at London's Gatwick Airport on August 1, having recently ramped up its personnel to 500-plus employees. Over 400 of them are dedicated to Up & Away Aviation Services' airline activity.
Unifi, headquartered in Atlanta, GA is present at over 200+ US airports, offering a range of ground services from ticketing and ground handling to cabin cleaning and cargo.
Up & Away Aviation is an ideal fit for Unifi as it looks to grow its UK business to more than £100 million in the region over the next three years.
While the Up & Away brand will remain, Stefan Murphy will become Unifi's Managing Director in the UK. Ernie Patterson, the chairman of International Business for Argenbright Group, will provide additional oversight of Unifi's UK aviation business, working with Up & Away's team to broaden operations into more airports, including London Heathrow.
Up & Away provides various aviation services, including cabin cleaning, de-icing, executive jet detailing, technical cleaning, and other adjacent aviation services. The business has grown exponentially under the leadership of Stefan Murphy. The business, originally focused on executive jet clientele, expanded into working with prolific airline customers in 2019 when a leading airline CEO (and business jet owner) asked the company to pitch for its airline cleaning business. Up & Away has not looked back.
Today, its operations span 13 UK airports, including London Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol and Belfast International, plus UK business aviation airports London Biggin Hill, Farnborough, London Oxford, where it supports a variety of business jets.
