A young man who pinched a flying club voucher from his dad now runs one of the region's most exciting businesses. Craig McLeod was bitten by the flying bug at 18 years old and it was a hobby that stimulated him during a successful early career as a goldsmith. Punctuated by time spent on the ground building his business and helping to raise a family, he sat exams, studied instrumentation and gained as much flying experience as he could until he graduated in 1994. The usual entrepreneurial vision of spotting a gap in the market came into play through a friendship with the late Terry Harrison and his wife, Meg. They all shared a passion for flight and formed Northern Aviation in 2002 with the purchase of two flying schools based at Durham Tees Valley Airport. They recognised that the region's business community was short on fast, convenient and reliable charter hire services within the UK and to and from European airports. Sadly, Terry Harrison died following a heart valve operation but Meg was determined to remain at the financial controls alongside managing director Craig - allowing an already forward-looking company to progress through its next stages of consolidation and buying new aircraft. Cleveland Flying School is now flourishing, with more members than ever before, but it's the air taxi and air charter arm of the business that is literally flying high. "There is no other service like Northern Aviation anywhere else in the region," says Craig, who is as comfortable handling a helicopter as he is with fixed-wing aircraft. "As we are already based in the region, we can pick up and set down at any of its airports, without incurring additional costs. We take people back to the days of courteous, chauffeured service and can offer corporate clients contract rates because we want their repeat business. And, we know that it works - our clients tell us it does." Northern Aviation's pilots and ground staff are fully qualified and highly experienced. They are authorised, approved and continually monitored by the Civil Aviation Authority and the European Regulatory Authority. The regulations, study time (650 hours minimum), flying hours and continuous training before the granting of a pilot's licence are frightening to comprehend and a massive undertaking. Craig and Meg are not short of the ideas and the enthusiasm required for investment, either - there are plans to develop the company to offer flight engineering courses and a training school for commercial pilots. A simulator is being considered. Operations manager, Lee Scott, a man with 27 years experience in the industry, says: "The days of Biggles and bucket seats are long gone. We operate a reliable service and our clients travel in absolute comfort. We have leather seats in the aircraft, tables for those who want to work or read and refreshments are provided - just what you would expect with a high quality travel business. "The bonus is obviously the personal service that we offer and the convenience of taking off and landing at an airport where there are no connecting flights to be caught or time delays to be made up, no sitting about waiting for the flight to be called, no long walks to find the correct departure lounge and no waiting for luggage to come off the carousels at the journey's end. It's private, personal and efficient." Timetables are arranged to suit the client and with the addition of helicopter "door-to-door" flights, sizeable cost savings can be made on hotels and time. Major airports are not always central for the business traveller and putting down on a smaller airfields can be a great advantage. "We fly a lot of local businessmen around the country and into Europe," says Craig, "and we do a lot of business with footballers, for example. "Say you needed to be in Dublin, then Oxford, you could do the lot in a few hours in one day from Teesside and be back for tea-time. You'd only be in the air for a total of about three hours, instead of spending whole days travelling. We regularly take passengers to Stansted on a Saturday and have regular runs to Aberdeen and Wick. It's amazing where the business comes from. "We're on call 24/7 and can have an aircraft ready to fly anywhere in Europe - with up to 20 passengers - within an hour-and-a-half. We do a lot of medical flights, taking organs and supplies to and from hospitals - anything that's needed urgently. "We're very flexible - there's no checking in - and if you arrive at, say, 6.00pm, you'll be ready to take off at ten past. We do a lot of work with the helicopter at Ramside Hall Hotel in Durham and we're looking at a lot of events such as the Royal Ascot race meeting at York this year and the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle. "And, very soon with the plans we have, we'll produce commercial pilots from the North-East." As you would expect, wealthy individuals use the Northern Aviation service regularly for leisure and business trips, but Craig and Meg are hoping to entice more corporate users. Avoiding airport delays, congestion, slow carousels and luggage problems makes charter flights increasingly attractive to companies wanting to hurry business along. The small terminal building is being transformed into a comfortable and impressive reception, departure lounge and operations centre. A short walk is all that's required to board. The company is also teaching disabled Olympic athlete, Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, to fly in an aircraft specially modified with hand controls. "It's just like a family business," says Craig. "We've all known each other since I was young. It's very important to have good relationships in business and the company wouldn't be here without that approach." In theory, Craig, who lives at Wynyard, could fly home in a helicopter for lunch. "I've actually done just that," he says. "My kids were at my mother-in-law's and I decided to pop along and see them and landed in the field beside their house, spent some time with them then flew back to work." Little wonder he stresses it's a very very enjoyable job. * For further information, contact Northern Aviation on (01325) 332855, e-mail cmmc@blueyonder.co.uk or visit www.northernaviation.co.uk With Cleveland Flying School, NORTHERN AVIATION owns/operates: Scottish Aviation Bulldog G-CBBS Scottish Aviation Bulldog G-CBBT both of these served with the RAF to complete basic training for fast jet pilots and are fully aerobatic. Slingsby T67M Firefly G-BLVI, an ex-RAF/NAVY trainer and fully aerobatic PA28 Piper Archer 180 G-SOBI four seat trainer and tourer Cessna C172SP G-OPFT four seat trainer and tourer Cessna C172N G-BPTL four seat trainer and tourer Cessna C152 G-BKWY two seat trainer Cessna C152 G-BMJC two seat trainer Cessna C152 G-BIXH two seat trainer Cessna C152 G-BJVT two seat trainer Northern Aviation operates: C421 Golden Eagle G-OSCH PA34 Piper Seneca V G-BZTG PA34 Piper Seneca I G-AZOT Augusta/Bell 206BIII Jet Ranger Helicopter G-CBBL Cessna 172SP G-OPFT Helicopter training: Augusta Bell Jet Ranger G-CBBL Robinson R44 Robinson R22 G-SIMS | 
