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Stepping out with SKYPRO


Jorge Pinto ceo and founder of SKYPRO spoke to Julie Baxter about the company’s unique range of aviation footwear. Discover more at ITCA Nice 2011 stand G183-184


OBH: Tell us a bit about the history of the company and how it was established. Jorge Pinto: The company was born from a partnership between two excellent brands: Lanidor, in the textiles sector, and Aerosoles in the comfort-shoe sector. We combined for a joint-venture to create a professional line of footwear designed to complement company uniforms. We noticed that the airline industry had very specific footwear needs which no other brand was meeting and we started the R&D process that led to the creation of SKYPRO, the world’s first footwear for aviation professionals.


What is your most successful product to date? Our SKYPRO footwear combines comfort and design and it’s perhaps not surprising that the women’s range is the most successful. It’s very difficult for women to find both comfort and style in the footwear market. They want a beautiful shoe but, for work, it must also be comfortable. As soon as flight attendants see and try our shoes they love them. Add in the purses, belts, gloves, and travelling bags, and the set is impressive and irresistible!


Where did the idea for special footwear for aviation professionals come from? We were studying the corporate footwear market, and beginning to develop our product when we began supplying TAP Air Portugal.


several solutions were developed. Some were very difficult to achieve, for example, the development the anti-static, anti-skid rubber soles that would adapt to all temperatures.


How easy has it been to establish this market? We are working in an extremely demanding niche market but we have found our biggest allies are the thousands of pilots, flight attendants and ground staff without proper footwear. Management boards understand the need and demand for our products because it is coming from within their own airlines. Once they hear about us they are interested. Since our presentation in ITCA Cologne 2010 we have made samples and signed contracts with many of them.


This contract gave us the opportunity to study a bigger sample of users and learn more about the problems aviation professionals have. We developed a rigorous list of their complaints: general shoe discomfort, cold feet, abrasive insoles, slipping on oil in certain airports, and we realised that these issues needed to be solved. Today we are proud to say SKYPRO offers a product that answers all these challenges and gives real added-value to our clients.


What difficulties did you face? In fact the beginning was the toughest part. It was a challenge to gather the right team and good partnerships but once we did


Who are your biggest buyers? Our biggest buyers are airlines and ground handling companies. Currently TAP Air Portugal and Groundforce are our largest clients. We also have clients in India and Europe and good relationships with those in the Middle East. Our first contract in Africa is with TAAG, and there are several we hope to sign up very soon.


Sum up the benefits of your product? We are constantly evolving the product but SKYPRO shoes already offer multiple benefits. Comfort is a critical factor and the ability to control the temperature inside the shoe with


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