Mark Carreras:
Photo by Benjamin Wallin
Gibraltar’s High Flier
by Jolene Gomez
A typical landing at Gibraltar Airport
Brought up in Gibraltar, Mark Carreras travelled to Hertfordshire University in the mid ’80s to study Mechanical Engineering, then on returning to Gibraltar he found a good steady job and started a family, his lifetime ambition, however, was always to become an airline pilot. In 1999 he took the huge step, relocating his family to the UK to follow his dream, and he is now flying the skies around the world as First Officer with local company, Gibjets. Mark attended Oxford Air Training School, where he completed an 18-month course, and although a late starter in this profession obtained his Commercial Pilot’s Licence in 2001 at the age of 37. Today Mark stresses that you have to take your chance in life when it presents itself. The 11th September tragedy in 2001 caused the aviation industry to ‘crash’ overnight and subsequently made job hunting very difficult for newly qualified and therefore inexperienced pilots like Mark. This changed the course of his life and he had to take a job as a Flight Despatcher for Easyjet at London Luton Airport where he remained for four years. These were happy but also very difficult years Mark recalls, “I was finally working in an airport environment but not in the job I had always dreamed of.” Mark returned to the Rock in 2005 with a view to setting up an aviation business locally. After getting very close with a low cost airline project in 2007 (only to be let down by the investor) Mark decided to try something smaller and tackle the booming corporate jet industry. One year and another business plan later, Mark finally found an investor who shared his interest in aviation, and so Gibjets Aviation was
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born. “We have recently taken over the newly formed Spanish company Atlas Executive Air, and operate from both Gibraltar and Malaga, with a world wide Operating Licence,” Mark explains. Mark flies the French built Falcon 100, eight seater aircraft, with a four hour flight range, and a whopping 600 miles per hour (Mach 0.85) cruising speed. “We can fly higher and faster than a normal passenger jet,” Mark says with a grin. His first flights on a fast jet created quite an impression on him, as going into high clouds at such high speeds seemed like intentionally crashing into a steel wall!
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We soon realised we had an important person on board, but were very surprised when were thanked on behalf of the Prince of Saudi Arabia for such a pleasant flight!
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The best part about being a pilot he says is the flying and the travel opportunities, although sometimes he only gets to spend time in different airports as opposed to cities! Popular destinations include London, Marrakech and Zurich, as well as Algiers, Rabat, Olbia and many others. “I spend an average of 10 to 15 days a month away from Gibraltar, flying to the various destinations at our clients’ requests. Working with Gibjets gives me the opportunity to not be tied down to the same daily schedule like pilots on scheduled passenger airlines. No two days are the same, and today I could be in Gibraltar, tomorrow in Geneva or Moscow. It is exciting to not know what each day will bring,” he says with a genuine passion for his career. “My favourite place to fly into is Switzerland on a clear winter’s day, as flying over the snow covered Alps is truly breathtaking, and not something everyone has the privilege to see from above.” The biggest moment of his career, to date, has been flying Miss World, Kaiane Aldorino, back to Gibraltar for her homecoming celebrations. “As a Gibraltarian, it filled me with great pride to be a part of this big occasion in Gibraltar’s history and be responsible for bringing the
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2010