IBA fields the world’s largest team of senior certified ISTAT Appraisers

London/Dublin/Tokyo - 24th June 2019: IBA Group, the specialist aviation consultancy with services including aviation data, appraisals, asset management and advisory, has become home to the world’s strongest depth of appraisal expertise with the new qualification of Youcef Berour Minarro.

Berour Minarro joined IBA in 2015 as an aviation analyst within the Commercial Aviation Intelligence (CAI) department responsible for aircraft appraisals, market studies, consultancy, research and publications. In 2018, he was promoted to the position of Senior Analyst and he has now qualified as an International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) Certified Appraiser.

Recent projects coordinated by Berour Minarro include management of several European airport slot transactions where airlines have been using their slot values for financing purposes. IBA was involved in the first ever transaction involving Virgin Atlantic using their LHR slots to raise funds for Boeing 787-9 purchases. He also recently advised a Middle Eastern airline on the value of their fleet for value impairment purposes in compliance with IFRS requirements.

Choosing to become an ISTAT Certified Appraiser develops many personal skills says Berour Minarro. “Being part of a society with more than 5,000 members including airlines, banks and leasing companies certainly allows great access and insight into market intelligence which allows an appraiser to be well informed. Nowadays the ability to field an ISTAT Certified Appraiser is becoming a stated requirement, and IBA’s expertise and services is in demand for increasingly complex projects. Ensuring an aircraft or fleet appraisal is provided by a credible source that abides by strict guidelines is comforting to lessors, airlines and banks alike.”

To become an ISTAT Certified Appraiser applicants must first enrol onto the ISTAT Appraiser Programme which has various requirements including education (Bachelor’s Degree) and requires a minimum of five years’ full–time employment in aviation–related business, of which no less than two years would be spent in accomplishing aircraft appraisals. Once enrolled, candidates must be an ISTAT member for one year and then take exams. “Youcef completed his exams at ISTAT Orlando in March 2019, and he passed all four written exams consisting of Finance, Technical, Appraisal and Ethics first time which is a great achievement” said ISTAT Fellow Phil Seymour, CEO of IBA.

Berour Minarro is responsible for IBA’s business jet and commercial aircraft appraisals as well as those for niche assets. His specialities include modelling, damage value diminution and intangible asset valuations such as airport landing and departure slots. Youcef also acts as writer for various industry publications including Air Finance Journal.

Berour Minarro graduated from Kingston University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours Degree in Aircraft Engineering. In conjunction with his degree, Youcef completed an exclusive EASA B1 Aircraft Engineering License course at KLM UK Engineering Technical College (EASA Part 147 Approved) at Norwich Airport making him a part-qualified EASA Part 66 B1 Licensed Aircraft Engineer. Most recently, Youcef completed an Aviation Auditor Training course in Germany.

Prior to working at IBA, Berour Minarro worked as a Flight Data Analysis Engineer at Muirhead Avionics (Ametek MRO) where he analysed Flight Data Recorders.

IBA’s world-leading team of ISTAT Appraisers includes:

Phil Seymour (Chief Executive Officer) – ISTAT Appraiser Fellow
Dr Stuart Hatcher (Chief Operating Officer) - Senior ISTAT Certified Appraiser
Mike Yeomans (Head of Valuations) – Senior ISTAT Certified Appraiser
Alice Gondry (Head of Data Intelligence Services) – Senior ISTAT Certified Appraiser
Jonathan McDonald (Head Analyst – Commercial and Ageing Aircraft) – Senior ISTAT Certified Appraiser
Youcef Berour Minarro (Senior Analyst) – ISTAT Certified Appraiser