Air Partner founder in £550,000 payout

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The founder and major shareholder of Air Partner, the world's biggest corporate jet broker, has paid himself half a million pounds in dividends after achieving record profits despite the dramatic downturn in the aviation market.

Tony Mack, who owns 41 per cent of the company, will receive a final dividend of 15p on his 3.7m shares, netting him a total of £556,000.

Among Air Partner's clients is the owner of Bhs, Philip Green, who used the company to ferry 200 guests to a £5m party in Cyprus to celebrate his 50th birthday in March.

The payout comes after Air Partner lifted pre-tax profits by 85 per cent to £4m in the year to the end of July. The increase was driven by a sharp improvement in the UK division, which accounts for two-thirds of turnover and raised profits by a half.

Cost cutting also played a major role, with administrative expenses down by more than £1m compared with the previous year thanks to savings in IT, legal and communications costs.

Mr Mack said he was delighted with the company's performance, despite what had been "a very difficult year for the industry".

The terrorist outrages on 11 September had brought in some new corporate clients who preferred flying in corporate jets to large commercial airliners but had also led to a wave of cancellations, he said.