Meet Cameron Singh, AGM, Signature Flight Support

CAMERON SINGH, AREA GENERAL MANAGER, SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT

How did you apply your experience in the start-up of a new Signature location in the US to your work here in Antigua?

I was on the start-up team for our San Jose, California location which was the first that Signature built from the ground-up. This was a great experience as I had the opportunity to be a part of building a Fixed-Based Operator (FBO) from scratch from a human resources and operations perspective. After having this experience at San Jose and working at two of our other busiest locations, I became prudent in the importance of attention to detail. Since coming to Antigua in 2018, we have made great strides in attention to detail, adding amenity offerings and making improvements in the overall customer experience. We feature marketing videos which show off new real estate developments such as the Barbuda Ocean Club and Half Moon Bay along with many of the elite-class hotels and resorts on the island. Caribbean style music has also been added in our terminal so that our clients feel they are arriving in the Caribbean.

Private jet travel is becoming the growing choice because of the efficiency whereby you can get on your jet quickly and go from point A to B faster than a commercial flight.

‘World-class FBO facilities with the warm hospitality for which the Caribbean is so well known’, is how Signature Flight Support describes its operations in the Twin Islands. What else would you add to this?

Signature Flight Support Antigua is unique within the Caribbean as we have an excellent and wellexperienced team. Most of our team know crew members and the passengers on a first-name basis and strive to provide a personalised service through understanding our clients’ needs. As we are both the first and last point of contact with Antigua for visitors, we take our customer service and the overall experience very seriously. We are not only giving Signature Flight Support a good name, but also Antigua & Barbuda itself.

What are Signature’s main services?

We offer unique services that are not offered at our other FBOs such as a Meet & Greet service which provides expedited services on arrival and departure through customs and immigration. Furthermore, we offer a departure lounge service through our Signature Elite Class service for British Airways passengers.

Are you seeing growth in general traffic to Antigua?

We are seeing an increase of both business aviation and commercial travel from Europe through the various property developments in Antigua & Barbuda as well as an influx of business aviation clients who are investing in these developments.

Signature has grown to become the world’s largest network of FBOs. How important is Antigua in this network?

Antigua is one of the busiest FBOs in the Caribbean since many of the yachts dock here throughout the high season as well as it being a great hub for connecting visitors to other islands such as St. Barth’s and Anguilla. During the high season, many of our U.S. clients come from the northeastern area and thus we are working on some initiatives within Signature to better market Antigua & Barbuda, such as displaying THE CITIZEN magazine there. We are also working with the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority to further support marketing the twin islands as a destination of choice when travelling to the Caribbean.

Why are on-demand charter jets the growing choice of the ultra-high net-worth (UHNW) individuals?

The traditional modes of business aviation and private jet travel are charter, fractional ownership, and private ownership. However, with new technologies, users can request private jets similar to requesting an Uber. Additionally, private jets are becoming more accessible through shuttle services such as Tradewinds which has a significant presence in the Caribbean. Private jet travel is becoming the growing choice because of the efficiency whereby you can get on your jet quickly and go from point A to B faster than a commercial flight.

How do you envisage Signature’s operations in Antigua by 2020?

We have plans to construct a brand new FBO terminal to provide our clients an enhanced customer experience with a comfortable, world-class facility. The new terminal would provide the Airport and Tourism authorities opportunities to better market Antigua for private jet travel. We are also continuing to invest in our human resources and a recently launched Manager in Training programme. The intention of this programme is to train someone from the islands to take over the Area General Manager role.