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Thierry Tea is a French-
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
n businessman,
entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...
, and investor. He is the founder and managing director of the Philippines-based aviation company, PhilJets Aero Services Inc. Tea became the youngest CEO and president of Eurocopter Philippines (now
Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wo ...
Philippines) in 2007 at the age of 27. At 29, Tea became the head of
EADS Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate defence and space and helicopter divisions. Airbus has long been th ...
(now Airbus Group) in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, becoming one of the youngest executives in the group. He also holds the position of chairman of PhilJets Aero Charter Corp (formerly Zenith Air Inc), managing partner of Agama Investments in Cambodia, managing director of Starline Global Industries and managing director of Starline Aero Investment in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
.


Aviation industry


Airbus

Tea returned to Paris, where he started his career with
Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wo ...
as a back office project executive within the Oil & Gas (
Petroleum Industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (often by oil tankers ...
) Department. Shortly thereafter, he moved back to Asia to work within a subsidiary of the company. He obtained a Volunteer for International Experience (VIE) internship with Airbus Helicopters Southeast Asia in Singapore. Tea became a sales manager for Eurocopter Philippines, a subsidiary of EADS, at the age of 21. The company was located at
Manila International Airport Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA ; ; ), also known as Manila International Airport (MIA), is the main international airport serving Metro Manila in the Philippines. Located between the cities of Pasay and Parañaque, about south of ...
in
Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...
. He moved to the Philippines as a trainee for Bell Helicopters in 2004. Tea became the president & CEO of Eurocopter Philippines in 2007. In 2012, Tea was appointed head of the Airbus Group in the Philippines, covering sales campaigns for
ATR ATR may refer to: Medicine * Acute transfusion reaction * Ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3 related, a protein involved in DNA damage repair Science and mathematics * Advanced Test Reactor, nuclear research reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory, ...
, Airbus Helicopters, plus their defense and space division. He was formerly on the board of directors of the French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines from 2008 to 2010. In his last year within the Airbus Group, Tea was part of the team that won the Airbus Campaign with Philippine Airlines when the airline purchased 70 Airbus planes


PhilJets Group

Tea founded the aviation solution company PhilJets Group with Matea Delen, Ming Asuncion and Mia Malanyaon in 2013. At its inception, the company offered aircraft maintenance and facilitation of aircraft transactions between 3rd parties. They acquired the
air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...
company Zenith Air and re-branded into PhilJets Aero Charter. They signed their first chartering contract with the American
reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
show ''Survivor''. The company is based in Manila Domestic Airport and operates in the Philippines and
ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...
. As of January 2019, they had 70 employees. As of September 2017, the PhilJets Group consisted of PhilJets Aero Services and PhilJets Aero Charter. Its
parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
, Starline Global Industries, deals with business transactions and consultation. PhilJets Aero Services deals with spare parts sales and MRO. PhilJets Aero Charter deals in tour packages, private helicopter chartering, and
emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services, pre-hospital care or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to d ...
. Tours last anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours and costs ranging from to . The company also deals in
air cargo Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail. Aircraft types Different cargo can be transported by passenger, cargo or combi aircraft: * Passenger aircraft use the ...
services, engineering and fleet management, and representation of foreign firms. PhilJets partnered with
GrabTaxi Grab Holdings Inc. is a multinational technology company headquartered in One-North, Singapore. It is the developer of a super-app for ride-hailing, food delivery, and digital payment services on mobile devices that operates in Singapore, Ma ...
to launch the
air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...
service GrabHeli through the GrabTaxi application. The
beta version The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...
was released in November 2015, with the service marketed as a "solution to the heavy
traffic in Metro Manila According to a "Global Driver Satisfaction" survey conducted by the navigation app Waze in 2015, Metro Manila had the "worst traffic on Southeast Asia". Emerson Carlos, MMDA assistant general manager for operation has mentioned that in 2015, mo ...
". The service charged (approximately ) per person and serviced from
Makati Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...
,
Bonifacio Global City Bonifacio Global City, also known as BGC, Global City, or The Fort, is a 240-hectare mixed-use estate and central business district located in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, Philippines. It is the home of the Philippine Stock Exchange, the national ...
, and
Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...
to Manila International Airport. It was in competition with
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...
's air taxi service, Uberchopper. As of April 2019, GrabHeli has been discontinued with Uberchopper having been sold to Grab. Tea is the founder and managing director of the PhilJets Group. PhilJets Group includes PhilJets Aero Services Inc and PhilJets Aero Charter Corp. PhilJets Aero Services Inc is a MRO company, and has an AMO (Aircraft Maintenance Organization) license delivered by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines since July 2015. PhilJets and Tea provide advisory services to Airbus Group in the Philippines for business development. The company advises AJ Walter in the Philippines PhilJets Aero Charter Corp developed tours by helicopters and private flights services throughout the Philippines, including air taxi services. Its services include aerial and scenic flights, mining, VIP and corporate flight services. The company that provides aircraft management, operates 2 H 130 (ex EC130T2), 1 AS350B2, 1 R44 helicopters. The operator is active in natural disaster reliefs or emergency evacuations. It develops its helitours. PhilJets will be the first operator to receive and operate the Bell Helicopter 505 Jet Ranger X in the Philippines. PhilJets is member of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Asian Business Aviation Association. As of April 2015, Tea represents PhilJets at the Philippines-France Business Council of the Makati Business Club.


FinTech

Tea co-founded in 2016, WeCube Inc, a collaborative ecosystem for start up in the digital industry. He also became the Ambassador of La French Tech Philippines.
French Tech French Tech is an accreditation awarded to French cities recognized for their startup ecosystem. It is also a name used by technologically innovative French businesses throughout the world. Convinced by the necessity to promote the emergence of ...
is a label created by the French Government to support the French Start Ups in France and worldwide.


Career in Cambodia

In 2014, he incorporated his first company in Cambodia, Agama Investments Co Ltd, a boutique investment company engaged in private equity, venture capital, management, consulting, financing, trading and real estate. Tea is an adviser of the Anvaya Council. He also started
mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...
plantations with TK Orient in
Kampong Speu Province Kampong Speu (, ; ) is a province of Cambodia. It borders the provinces of Pursat and Kampong Chhnang to the north, Kandal to the east, Takéo to the southeast, Kampot to the south and Koh Kong to the west. Its capital is the town of Chba ...
. Tea is the co-founder and director of Asiaware Cambodia, an organization that supports children in the
Kampong Speu Province Kampong Speu (, ; ) is a province of Cambodia. It borders the provinces of Pursat and Kampong Chhnang to the north, Kandal to the east, Takéo to the southeast, Kampot to the south and Koh Kong to the west. Its capital is the town of Chba ...
.


Personal life

Tea is of Chinese Teochew descent and was born 張勇漢 in Paris, France on April 22, 1981. Tea's parents are
Chinese Cambodian Chinese Cambodians (or Sino-Khmers) are Cambodian citizens of Chinese ancestry or Chinese of full or partial Khmer ancestry. The Khmer term ''Khmer Kat Chen'' () is used for people of mixed Chinese and Khmer descent; ''Chen Khmer'' () means Cam ...
who immigrated to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
as refugees, where they lived in
Quartier Asiatique The Quartier asiatique (, Asian Quarter), also called Triangle de Choisy () or Petite Asie (; Chinese: 巴黎唐人街, Vietnamese: ''Phố Tàu Paris'') is the largest commercial and cultural center for the population of Asian origin of Paris ...
. Tea later studied in Singapore. Tea is married to Lynda Him, French Chinese Cambodian of Hainanese and Teochew descent. She is a businesswoman engaged into rice trading. Him also holds a master's degree from Negocia (Novancia) Business School Paris, studied in Drexel University in the US and Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore. They met while working for Airbus Helicopters in Asia. Tea speaks
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
,
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
, Chinese ( Teochew), and Khmer. He has been a Chevalier of the
Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs La Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs () is an international gastronomy, gastronomic society founded in Paris in 1950. It is one of the oldest gastronomic societies in the world. The organization is named after the French Royal Guild of Go ...
, Baillage Cambodia since May 2015. He has a daughter, Julia Tea.


Awards and recognition

At the age of 28 in 2009, Tea was nominated by the
Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime ...
as a Foreign Trade Adviser for France (Conseiller du Commerce Exterieur pour la France). On January 10, 2011, he was honored by ''People Asia'' magazine as one of the "People of the Year 2010" for sending out helicopters to aid in rescue missions during
Typhoon Ondoy Typhoon Ketsana, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Ondoy, was the second-most devastating tropical cyclone of the 2009 Pacific typhoon season, causing $1.15 billion in damages and 665 fatalities, only behind Morakot earlier in the s ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tea, Thierry 1981 births Businesspeople in aviation French company founders Living people Businesspeople from Paris French people of Cambodian descent Cambodian people of Chinese descent Chaoshanese people