The advantage of being a large group is adapting to unexpected challenges
Boost Air unites Gestair, Brok-Air, and ATS to create Spain's first independent aviation services group with €280M combined revenue and 900 employees. The consolidated group offers end-to-end services from aircraft sales to maintenance, pilot training, and defense contracts, with facilities across Madrid, Castellón, Málaga, and Portugal.
- Boost Air unites Gestair, Brok-Air, and ATS with combined 2025 revenue of €280 million
- The group employs approximately 900 people across Spain and Portugal
- Global commercial aircraft fleet projected to grow from 30,000 to 49,200+ within two decades
- Spain received 97 million tourists in 2025, driving commercial aviation demand
- Company targets €560 million revenue within five years
Three Spanish aviation companies merge under Boost Air, backed by a defense fund led by former PP president Pablo Casado, targeting €560M revenue and international expansion in aircraft maintenance and services.
Three Spanish aviation companies have merged into a single entity called Boost Air, backed by a defense-focused investment fund led by Pablo Casado, the former president of Spain's conservative PP party. The consolidation, completed over the course of 2025, brings together Gestair, Brok-Air, and ATS—firms that collectively generated 280 million euros in revenue last year and now employ roughly 900 people across Spain and Portugal.
The logic behind the merger is straightforward: the aviation maintenance and services sector in Spain was fragmented, with no dominant player capable of handling large-scale projects or competing internationally. The global commercial aircraft fleet is expanding rapidly. There were approximately 30,000 commercial planes in service last year, and Airbus projects that number will exceed 49,000 within two decades. Each of those aircraft requires continuous maintenance over a lifespan of 25 to 30 years—inspections between flights, deep overhauls during scheduled downtime, repairs, modifications, component work. The demand for these services is growing faster than the supply of companies equipped to deliver them at scale.
Gestair arrived first, in the summer of 2025, bringing expertise in aircraft operations, management, and maintenance for both executive and commercial aviation. Brok-Air followed in late November, adding aircraft component repair and a mechanics academy—a particularly valuable asset in a sector facing severe labor shortages across Europe. ATS joined just before Christmas, contributing additional maintenance capacity and facilities, including one of Spain's few dedicated paint hangars for executive aircraft. Miguel Ángel Morell, the group's chief executive, describes the combination as creating a "360-degree" or end-to-end service model: aircraft sales and purchases, flight operations, maintenance at multiple levels, pilot and technician training, and increasingly, aircraft modification design.
Boost Air positions itself as Spain's first independent aviation services group—unaffiliated with any airline—and the ambition extends beyond national borders. Currently, executive aviation accounts for half the group's business, with commercial aviation at roughly 30 percent and defense contracts at 20 percent. Morell sees significant growth potential in both the commercial and defense segments. Spain received nearly 97 million tourists in 2025, a figure that translates into substantial aircraft movement and maintenance demand. Yet most foreign airlines that fly to Spain perform no maintenance there; they arrive, operate, and depart because the infrastructure doesn't exist. Boost Air now operates two hangars at Madrid's Barajas airport, with additional facilities totaling more than 47,500 square meters across Cuatro Vientos air base in Madrid, locations in Castellón and Málaga, and service points at more than 20 Spanish airports. The group recently secured a 12,000-square-meter plot at Barajas and has bid for additional space in Valencia. It also operates in Portugal, with presence in Lisbon, Porto, and Faro, as well as Malta.
The defense sector represents another avenue for expansion. Boost Air already maintains the aircraft used by Spain's government and royal family and has secured a contract to modernize the avionics systems on the country's firefighting aircraft. Morell frames the company's role as a trusted partner to Spain's armed forces, emphasizing the value of being a domestic firm capable of contributing to national sovereignty. The group's combined revenue reached 280 million euros in 2025 and is expected to grow by 10 percent this year. Management projects doubling that figure within five years—a target Morell describes as achievable rather than ambitious. The company does not disclose combined EBITDA figures, but Morell indicates that margins in the services the group manages typically run in the double digits.
Geopolitical turbulence in the Middle East has roiled aviation markets in recent months, but Morell says Boost Air has felt no direct impact so far. The group's diversification across commercial, executive, and defense segments provides a buffer against sector-specific shocks. "The advantage of being a large group," he notes, "is that you can adapt to the unexpected challenges that arise." The company is in an integration phase, consolidating operations across its three constituent firms while positioning itself for the next phase of growth—one that extends beyond Spain's borders.
Notable Quotes
Are three very powerful companies in their sector that when united gave us the capacity to have a 360-degree or end-to-end view of the entire product— Miguel Ángel Morell, CEO of Boost Air
We want to be a partner to our Armed Forces. Being national, we can provide experience and national sovereignty and be a reliable partner— Miguel Ángel Morell, on defense sector strategy
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Casado's fund see an opportunity in aviation maintenance specifically? It seems like a niche sector.
It's niche but it's also structural. Every commercial aircraft needs continuous maintenance over decades. The demand is guaranteed and growing. Spain had the pieces—three solid companies—but they were operating separately, unable to bid on large contracts or invest in new facilities. A fund saw consolidation as a way to create scale.
So this isn't about inventing something new. It's about combining existing capacity.
Exactly. Gestair had operations expertise, Brok-Air had repair capability and training, ATS had facilities. Separately, each was limited. Together, they can offer a complete service from aircraft purchase to maintenance to pilot training. That's what they mean by "end-to-end."
The CEO mentions Spain's 97 million tourists. How does that connect to aircraft maintenance?
More tourists means more flights. More flights mean more aircraft need servicing. But here's the gap: foreign airlines flying to Spain don't maintain their planes here because the infrastructure didn't exist. Now Boost Air has hangars at Barajas and other airports. They're positioned to capture that work.
What about the defense contracts? That seems like a different business entirely.
It is, but it's also a strategic advantage. They already maintain government and royal aircraft. They're bidding on modernizing firefighting planes. For a defense fund backing this, that's valuable—it's stable, it's national, and it positions the company as a partner to the state.
Is doubling revenue in five years realistic?
The CEO thinks so. They're not counting on major new investments or breakthroughs—just negotiating better as a unified group and accessing markets they couldn't reach separately. With 280 million in combined revenue now, reaching 560 million in five years is ambitious but not outlandish if the commercial aviation sector keeps growing.
What's the biggest risk?
Execution. They've just merged three companies. Integration is messy. They need to keep the talent, maintain service quality, and actually deliver on the promise of being "end-to-end." That's harder than it sounds.