A New Floor for the Component Shop - AeroVisto Group

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A New Floor for the Component Shop

Inaugurating Our Expanded Premises at Zurich Airport

"For us, this was not an ordinary Monday."

That is how site manager Dimitrios “Jimmy” Mihalopoulos opened the gathering on 25 April, when colleagues, customers, partners, and guests came together on the ninth floor of Terminal 26 at Zurich Airport to celebrate the inauguration of our Component Shop’s new premises. Compared to the previous location, the available space has more than doubled — an important step that opens up better workflows, better working conditions, and more opportunities for new projects.

The view from the new floor stretches across the entire airfield and, on a clear day, all the way to the mountains. As Carsten Matthiesen, Managing Director, put it: “You don’t only see aircraft taking off and landing. You also see what we work for every day: mobility, quality, reliability, and the trust of our customers.”

Today, sixteen colleagues work in our Component Shop. Together they deliver around 25,000 working hours each year, service 61 different part numbers — batteries, ovens, coffee makers, and more — and handle around 5,000 components annually. Our anchor customer is SWISS, alongside Edelweiss, Helvetic, and Chair.

Eight Years in the Making

The Shop’s history is short, and it was not built in easy times. AeroVisto’s presence at Zurich Airport began in 2018 with the takeover of the upholstery shop from SRT. The Component Shop followed in 2021 — at the height of the pandemic, with fleets grounded and many in the industry pausing investment. A call from Petra Lindemann at SWISS asked whether we would consider taking over SRT’s Component Shop. We weighed it carefully, and we started with four people. “We believed in aviation. We believed in Zurich. We believed in SWISS. We believed in our team,” recalled Managing Director Hermann Bauer. Carsten Matthiesen added: “That may not have been the most comfortable moment to enter a new field. Looking back, it was the right one.”

The long-term contract with SWISS made this expansion possible — and in our industry, that means more than a signed document. “A contract like this is more than a document with signatures,” said Hermann Bauer. “It is a sign of trust. And trust is one of the most valuable assets in our industry.” Zurich Airport offered AeroVisto the new floor; with it, Hermann added, “we have not only gained new rooms here, but new perspectives — and I mean that quite literally.”

Across the past eight years, AeroVisto has invested approximately CHF 1 million in machinery, tooling, infrastructure, and training at this site. As Carsten Matthiesen framed it: “We don’t just talk about growth — we invest in growth. We don’t just talk about quality — we create the conditions for it. And we don’t just talk about people — we invest in their development.” Site manager Jimmy summed up the standard the Shop holds itself to: “It has to function. It has to be documented. It has to be completed on schedule. And it has to be right the first time.”

A Day to Celebrate

The day was duly celebrated. Colleagues from across our sites gathered together with customers, partners, suppliers, contractors who carried out the renovation, representatives of the SVFB, and guests from Aero-Dienst and ADAC — among them Aero-Dienst’s CEO André Ebach and Co-CEO Dr. Oliver Kosing, both members of AeroVisto’s Board of Directors. Both addressed the gathering, welcoming attendees and voicing their appreciation for AeroVisto’s customers and team. Together, those present took in the view, walked the shop, joined the tours, and listened to colleagues explain their work directly at their stations.

A further voice from the day came from the customer side. Markus Fink, Strategic Procurement at SWISS, took the floor to thank AeroVisto for the professional cooperation. He described the relationship as more than a typical customer-supplier connection — a partnership — and emphasized how much SWISS values the proximity to AeroVisto and the direct contact to its management and team. That, he said, is what clearly distinguishes AeroVisto from other suppliers.

The relocation itself was no small undertaking. In closing, thank you — to our project lead, site management, and the entire Zurich team, for carrying it through with calm precision and for keeping operations running while the move took place. To SWISS, for the trust and the long-term partnership that made this step possible. To Zurich Airport, for this great opportunity and for this special location. To Edelweiss, Helvetic, and Chair, for the cooperation and the trust they place in our services. To the SWISS training department, for supporting us during the move. To everyone who planned, built, organized, carried, installed, cleaned, made decisions, and sometimes simply persevered. To our owners and Board, for their support. And to the colleagues at our Staad headquarters, for the operational, administrative, technical, and organizational backing that holds projects like this together. As Jimmy put it in his closing remarks: “You are the reason these rooms are filled with life. Machines, tools, and infrastructure are important. But in the end, it is people who turn a location into a success.”

For Hermann Bauer, the new premises carry a meaning beyond their square meters. “These new rooms are more than a new space for our Component Shop,” he said. “They are a sign — a sign of trust, of growth, of continuity, and of the courage to recognize opportunities even in difficult times.” And: “These new rooms are not the goal. They are the next starting point.”

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