The plunge in oil prices has hit Russia’s elite business sector hard and the effect is being felt by the fledgling business aviation industry. Forbes Magazine has profiled the pioneering company in business aircraft charter in Russia and, like business everywhere, Kurosh Tehranchian and Nikki Rokni, of Ocean Sky, are feeling the pinch. The husband-and-wife business was started four years ago and brought much of the structure and form to the current charter and management business. Now the wealthy people they served are cutting back. “They had overstretched themselves,” said Tehranchian.
The couple is now looking outside Russia for business opportunities, including expansion to the lucrative London area. They took over space vacated by Harrods at Luton Airport, which is only a 40-minute drive from London. The company is also reinvesting more than $50 million in their business. “We wanted to send a signal that we don’t need to raise [more capital],” says Tehranchian.
