"I also always wanted my own plane but could never afford one so I went out and got a job, bought a plane and put it to work to let it start to pay itself off.

"A bit later around the early 1990s I did the same thing with a helicopter on a five-year contract and that is really how it all got started."

Kenny, a canoeing bronze medallist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and his wife Lisa Curry-Kenny, a former Olympic swimmer, have now amassed a fleet of about 60 aircraft.

Curry-Kenny Aviation boasts contracts throughout Australia and overseas in tourism, mining and maritime work, including a lucrative maintenance deal with the Thailand Air Force.

The Caloundra-based group has just landed a $50 million Queensland government contract to provide marine pilot transfers at two of the state's busiest ports, a skill Kenny says is unique in the aviation world.

"We are capable of going out 120 nautical miles, or 200km, to sea either during the night or day, landing on a ship and bringing the marine pilot back to shore," he said.

"It is a skill not too many other aviation companies in the world can rival."

The Queensland government deal is with the Department of Transport to transfer government-employed marine pilots to and from their vessels off the industrial ports of Gladstone and Hay Point.

Curry-Kenny Aviation will buy three aircraft, including two state-of-the-art, twin-engine Eurocopter EC-135 P2i helicopters at a cost of $7 million each for the contract, which starts from January 1, 2009.

The latest deal follows Curry-Kenny Aviation last month cementing its position as the country's largest private aviation operator by acquiring Western Australia's largest privately owned air company, Slingair Heliwork WA.

The company, which was founded by iconic tourism identity Kerry Slingsby in 1984, gave Kenny a fleet of 36 aircraft operating out of several bases in the East Kimberley region, employing almost 80 people during peak season and increasing total staff in the group to more than 200.

"Today we act for the opportunities that are there and in this industry you have to move with the sometimes very very rapidly changing times and move fast," Kenny said of the purchase and future strategy of the group.

To that end he is investigating a major joint venture with a helicopter group which would propel Curry-Kenny into being a truly international player if both groups agree on the deal.

Curry-Kenny Aviation is the major company in the stable but Kenny also has a property arm with Flight Centre director Jim Goldberg called Curry-Kenny Property Development and a third arm called Curry-Kenny Promotions.

Kenny doesn't like talking about financials other than to say revenue today was "substantial".

For the aviation arm, he cites soaring oil prices as one of the greatest future challenges.

Kenny said aviation fuel costs had risen 13 per cent from May to June and it was difficult to pass that cost on to customers.

"The focus now is that we are looking to grow into a slightly different area where we are getting a bit more focused on support of the mining industry. We do a bit of that now but want to increase it," he said.

The group is negotiating to buy a "unique" helicopter to service the mines, one of the largest in the world.

Given the size of the operation, Kenny said he had considered a public presence on the Australian Securities Exchange although it was not being actively investigated.

"It is an option at one point because I don't want to spend the rest of my life being as busy as I am," he said.

"But . . . I love doing what I am doing, chasing the challenges and while there is an argument for going down that path, it has some thorns on it because at the moment it is a private business and I can do what I want."

by James McCullough

SOURCE | Couriermail