LASSE RUNGHOLM • PROFILE

SWAPPING the Indian Ocean paradise of the Maldives for the Danish city of Aarhus, perched on the cold, windy Jutland peninsula, is not a career move likely to tempt many. But for Lasse Rungholm it was necessary. The relocation took him back to his beloved Denmark and put him in close contact again with his OPMAS import documentation business. Plus, it offered the platform to launch a new business – Nordic Seaplanes.

Tiny seaplanes must float in Rungholm’s blood. He first began flying them over 30 years ago. Today, his many logbooks are jammed with a variety of types from piston engine aircraft, including ATR regional airliners, helicopters and business jets. But his favourite remains the de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter on floats. Rungholm doesn’t so much get into a Twin Otter as put it on, like a well-worn pair of flying gloves.

It’s a familiarity born of long experience in the captain’s seat. He learned to fly in Aarhus and professionally in Massachusetts and worked as an instructor in California. After studying law at Aarhus University, he worked as an aviation and transport lawyer in the end for DLA Piper Denmark before escaping to the sun in the Maldives and on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast. “I was a lawyer for 30 years – that was enough,” he says. There was still some legal work to do, but his main office was the left-hand seat of a Twin Otter captaining charter and sightseeing flights.

“It was so much fun,” Rungholm tells us. “Getting out of the law firm and putting on some flip-flops and a short-sleeved shirt. Taking a Twin Otter seaplane and finding your way through the coral and around that reef before take-off to another island.”

But it is for OPMAS, the aircraft import documentation firm launched 30 years ago, that Rungholm is best known. The business traces its origins to an anomaly in Danish law. An opportunity that was unlocked by a “golden letter” from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). It began, like so many good ideas, with a call from a client.

The client asked Rungholm whether it was true that aircraft could be imported into Denmark without attracting VAT payments if they were Danish registered? His preliminary investigations suggested yes and no – as the registration bit was not really required. This was eventually confirmed by a one-and-a-half page “golden letter” from PwC. And then things really took off.

At the peak of the business, OPMAS was handling up to 400 aircraft transactions a year. “Business was very good,” Rungholm recalls. “You can imagine people importing an aircraft into the Single Market being attracted to the idea of saving 15-25% – through not paying VAT. We took a fee for this service and the business just grew and grew.”

The only stipulations were that the aircraft must enter Europe via Denmark and not be a ‘sporting aircraft’ – like an aerobatic plane.

“So, we were happily buying and selling airplanes and importing aircraft from outside the EU,” says Rungholm. “I even bought a French-built Socata [now owned by Daher] that was more than six months old. We could then resell it back to France with zero VAT.”

A key part of the process was a disciplined approach. “As lawyers, we strictly followed a checklist. It was not just a paper exercise – the money always followed the aircraft,” he explains. “The aircraft came here, stayed here temporarily and was photographed on the ramp.”

The business always insisted all case details must be approved in advance by a competent customs authority. “We have never agreed to process a case unless we have been able to get a binding assessment ruling from the Danish customs and tax administrations, approving the specific aircraft case and the related VAT handling and importation or admission. This approval process is essential to protect our clients from any unpleasant surprises.”

But then a new reality dawned. In 2009, the EU told Denmark to end the VAT-free treatment of aircraft in Denmark. Fortunately for OPMAS, that year the Danish government called a general election. That meant the company enjoyed another year of trading on the old basis before the VAT-free aircraft import procedure was closed. (Rungholm prefers to avoid the word loophole).

Today, the business specialises in aircraft importation and admission into the EU for aircraft owners and operators flying within the union without the application of standard VAT rates. OPMAS also helps with Temporary Admission, which is available only to entities established outside the EU and the export of aircraft from the EU.

Other services offered include consultancy for sales or purchase processes, as well as EU VAT and customs related matters and Import Control System (ICS) clearance. Since the launch of the EU Single Market in 1992, OPMAS has handled more than 3,500 aircraft transactions.

Rungholm explains the current business: “OPMAS is a service provider or consulting company providing services, so operators can fly safely within the EU, in a customs context. Up to 90% of our services are full importation or Temporary Admission certification. The rest are consulting services related to the customs/VAT aspects of sale/purchase and aircraft MRO [maintenance, repair and overhaul].”

Today, Rungholm is CEO of OPMAS, which is run as a 50-50 partnership with his childhood friend Frank Hansen. Together they employ eight staff serving clients worldwide. Customers are mainly operators and aircraft owners, with aviation consultants and lawyers often the first point of contact. Clients are based mainly outside the EU – split between North America, Switzerland, the Middle East and Far East – including Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

There's a ready supply of customers. “All worldwide operators will eventually fly to Europe and will need to find advice and help on how to get their aircraft under customs control – as required when crossing the EU outer border.”

For Rungholm simplicity is the key. The company has focused on handling aircraft customs for more than two decades. The business is not involved in offshore tax structures, tax planning, or yachting. “We strictly focus on aircraft importation and admission matters for aircraft owners and operators flying within the EU,” he says.

The business never charges for an initial consultation or asks clients or prospects to sign non-disclosure agreements. “Many clients have realised over the years, that a dialogue with OPMAS is pleasant and relaxed – in the typical Danish or Scandinavian way. We will only charge a client if we are engaged to do business,” he tells us.

So, where did the name OPMAS come from? Rungholm pauses and smiles. “The letters stand for Other People’s Money – we had to call the business something. It helps remind us we are a service business determined to to deliver the very best of customer care.”

After returning to Denmark and with OPMAS ticking along after its glory days of VAT-free imports, Rungholm captained ATR turboprop passenger aircraft in Denmark for his older brother. Then his former employer from the Maldives suggested launching what Rungholm calls his “nebengeschichte” or side story.

In launching his side story, Nordic Seaplanes, funded initially by the income from OPMAS, Rungholm returned to his roots in maritime aviation. The Danish airline, equipped with two Twin Otters on floats, operates a scheduled daily passenger route between the ports of Copenhagen and of Aarhus. “There was nothing similar in Europe flying scheduled services on floats. So, we decided to launch the business,” he says. Scheduled passenger flights started in 2016. The business also offers sightseeing flights and flight training.

“We have a CEO for the little airline and I just fly,” says Rungholm. “I also enjoy instructing.”

The business even won a training contract with the Vietnamese Aviation Academy. Eight of the academy’s students came to Aarhus for their seaplane conversion courses after previous training in France and Canada. “We are flying these guys 20 hours each on floats. It's hard work but also a lot of fun,” he says.

For the future, Nordic Seaplanes is looking at adding fashionable electric planes to its fleet. In September, the business forged a partnership with electric aviation developer Elfly Group. It plans to become the first operator of Noemi, a zero-emissions, all-electric, amphibious aircraft. Rungholm is quick to point out he is more than happy with his brace of Twin Otters. But he is also excited (and feels a responsibility) to “embrace aviation’s electric future.”

Meanwhile, after all these years, with thousands of hours in his logbooks, Rungholm still loves to fly, when possible, in one of his beloved Twin Otters. “I fly a lot for fun. Flying is still my time off,” he tells us.