The specialist in handling the complex travel and logistical needs of companies operating in the energy sector across oil and gas, marine and corporate travel, has secured a regional appointment in the Middle East and North Africa to one of the world's largest providers of drilling, pipeline and construction products and services in a contract value of approximately USD35 million.
In addition, Wings has secured the global appointment to provide travel and logistics services to one of the world's largest oil and gas drilling contractors in the USA, Canada, Mexico and South America. The contract will further expand to include the Middle East in the coming months, meaning its total value will be in excess of USD30 million.
The travel management company has also seen positive growth in Scotland, winning new Aberdeen-based clients with a total annual business travel spend in the region of GBP500,000. This includes Subsea Engineering & Technical Services, Iocean Solutions, and PTC. Oil and gas business is also on the up for Wings' operation at Stavanger in Norway. New business gained over the last six months totals some NOK2 million.
Headquartered in London, Wings Travel Management is now further expanding its global footprint by launching wholly owned and managed operations in Egypt and Cyprus to meet the needs for servicing clients expanding into these markets. This will grow the Wings network of wholly owned regional operations in key oil and gas markets around the globe to 20 countries, including Angola, Brazil, Middle East, Mozambique, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, UK and USA.
"This year has already been one of exciting growth and development for our business globally in the oil and gas sector now that recovery in the industry is well underway," says Tony Sofianos, CEO, Wings Travel Management.
"As a result, we are forecasting up to 40% growth in energy sector sales from a combination of new business and existing clients, meaning our oil and gas TTV will be up by over USD100 million by the end of our 2019/20 financial year," he adds.
The fact that Wings owns and manages all its operations around the globe has been a key driver in it winning significant new global contracts with its wholly-owned business model is a major point of difference to competitors. All of its staff worldwide operate off the same technology platform meaning the travel management company can give clients consistency of service globally, reliable on-demand data, follow-the-sun servicing solutions, and critical safety support in each market.
"The fact that we own and manage all our operations makes us unique in the market and now we are excited to announce our expansion into Egypt and Cyprus with the launch of regional servicing hubs in Cairo and Limassol," continues Mr Sofianos.
There has been significant investment in the oil and gas sector in Egypt and Mr Sofianos explains there "is great potential" for onshore and offshore exploration from its clients and has driven its move to establish a presence in this market, which will also support "expansion in North Africa in general".
In terms of Cyprus, Mr Sofianos says the island the is well-positioned geographically to provide Wings with a shared service centre" for its European and Middle East operations. He adds that the Limassol presence is "strategically well-placed to support our objectives of enhancing and innovating Wings' digital capabilities" following its recent acquisition of Cyprus-based Alchimea, a specialist software developer of workflow integration, process automation, application design and management in the areas of global mobility, business travel and related support services.