blink press 20080801 european business air news web

8/9/2019 Blink Press 20080801 European Business Air News Web

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Bernhard Fragner receives the key fromsales manager Europe Thomas Tatum forone of the three Mustangs now operated byGlobeAir.

Tu r k e y r e a d y t o c a p i t a l i s e o n h e a v y i n t e r e s t i n v e r y l i g h t j e t s a s f l e e t s t a k e o f f i n w e s t e r n E u r o p e

July 30, 2008:

Turkey is a country market that leading operators believe is exceptionally suited tothe VLJ. Redstar Aviation's ceo Mustafa Sevki Atac says: "There is a substantialgroup of investors in Turkey who are looking heavily into VLJs. This is obviously avery interesting business issue now and in the future."

He adds: "RSA is most interested and will participate either alone or in partnership.The VLJ generated the most interest at the Istanbul air show which is a significantproof of its potential."

Atac points out that there are well established operators of larger jets and feels theyhave good growth potential now and in the future. But he adds: "There is asubstantial potential for the VLJ as well. It is rather like comparing the 'limousine'and the 'cab'! Many of us need both at various times and they have differentmarkets too."

He says: "I would like to stress that there is a complementary fit rather than acompetitiveness issue between the business jet and VLJ." It is a view shared byAdoAir. Mutlu Inal, pilot and quality manager, says: "We are planning to operate aVLJ and have made a downpayment on the Citation Mustang."

AdoAir, a subsidiary of one of the biggest companies in Turkey, is operating aHawker 800XP. He says: "It is a reality that a very high percentage of our costcomes from fuel, but we must focus on the optimum point between the fuel andpassenger numbers. Most of our long range customers prefer to have a flightcatering for between four and seven passengers. But for the demand from smallerpassenger groups our aircraft seems inconvenient. We hope the two differentcategories of aircraft will fill complementary gaps in the market."

AdoAir, which was founded in 2005, currently focuses on providing a long rangeservice. Inal says: "We chose the Hawker 800XP because it has long range

capabilities and one of the largest cabins in the midsize jet category. Itscombination of speed, comfort and cabin size make it one of the most popularbusiness jets around. The vip configuration typically seats eight passengers."

Capt. Oezkan Aslan, gm, says: "Our future plan is to expand our services in thecommercial aviation market backed by rising quality and training standards whereall our crews are trained in accordance with EASA regulations."

The sister companies of AdoAir, launched in 2005, include Adopen Plastik, AdocimCimento, Adoport Tourism Industries & Trade and Adomining. Its pilots also includeCapt. Adnan Bosnali and Capt. Erkan Menekse. There is no doubt that the largerbusiness jets are in great demand in Russia and the Middle East (Middle East focusEBAN June) but operators in the region, including Prestige Jet which is acquiringtwo Grob spn, believe that the VLJ has a future.

Faris Deeb, md, says: "Prestige Jet plans to cover all aircraft size categories so wecan offer wider options and flexibility on charter rates. The spn has the additionalattraction that it will offer an outstanding operational performance including landingon restricted runways and offering a short take-off distance. It also has a lavatory,six passenger seats and finally, a VLJ fuel consumption and size, with the midsize

jet range of approximately 1,800 n.m."

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He does not believe that there is mileage in comparing the cost of a business classticket with the charter of a VLJ. "However the private jet, such as the Grob in ourcase, will certainly offer more flexibility and more privacy. The short same dayoperations on flights less than an hour should be cheaper, but with the scenario of two hours or more, the cost of chartering a VLJ will always be higher, But eachcategory has its own customers and we are certain that we will be able to build acustomer base."

Prestige Jet has launched a Russian version of its website. The company projectsthat 25 per cent of its business could come from the Russian market in the next 12months

GlobeAir, based in Linz, Austria, has been taking delivery of aircraft since April as itaims to become the biggest European mainland VLJ Mustang operator. It also plansto add several Grob spn next year and launch base Linz is being followed intoservice by others at Altenrhein and Graz.

GlobeAir promises that between Linz and Parma, it will turn a five-hour-15-minute,door-to-door commercial trip into a two-hour-and-15-minute trip, with the addedconvenience of choosing when to depart and return, with efficient securityprocedures.

The website offers a calculation tool, called Radar, to enable prospective clients togauge the time and costs of their itineraries and locate the closest airport to theirintended destination. "Clients can conveniently select and book flights from a list of home bases in central Europe to any destination airport on the continent," accordingto md Bernhard Fragner. "Our recently published 'MyBooking' system on our websitesupplies clients with powerful tools like MyFlights, MyPassengers, MyAccount. Weare absolutely convinced that the new entry customer on VLJs is expecting to havesuch tools available for use. In the near future we want to develop a completesoftware suite dealing from web-booking direct to dispatching and flight planning inreal time."

He adds: "Most people are new clients, now discovering the opportunities on suchtools. Some are upgrading from turboprop and a few are downgrading from a light

jet or a medium jet."

GlobeAir currently has three Mustangs in operation and is opening a base in Florencein close cooperation with the FBO Delta AeroTaxi. "By the end of 2009 we want tohave ten Mustangs in operation. We fully concentrate on a homogenous fleet andwant to expand our business in Austria, eastern Switzerland and the northern partof Italy," says Fragner.

The company targeted travellers with a 50,000 travel budget offering a five percent bonus on flights and others with a 100,000 travel budget offering a seven percent bonus. "We had a very good response to our offer, now closed, to help establisha launch base of customers," Fragner reports. "Our passengers are the typicalon-demand charter clients but there are also the frequent users of air taxi servicesand fractional owners, as well as the owner-operators."

GlobeAir is providing an experienced two-pilot operation as it focuses on businesscharter and weekend leisure demand within Europe on the basis of up to fourpassengers. "We are expecting 600 flights a year per aircraft," says Fragner. Globehires pilots based locally in Austria and its priority is commanders.

Blink, which says its order for 45 Mustangs is one of the biggest Mustang fleet

orders in the world, is targeting both the traveller dissatisfied with business classand existing private jet users prepared to sacrifice comfort. Peter Leiman, md andco-founder, says: "There are people who are tired of the hassle and inconvenience of commercial travel (inefficient scheduling, sub-par airport experience) and whocannot afford the larger private jet charter but who are willing to pay the premiumto travel on Blink. Equally, there are those who are flying around in private jets thatare oversized for their needs - the average load factor for private jets in Europe is2.3. The Mustang is the right jet and Blink is able to show a considerable cost savingover existing private jet travel."

Blink, whose flights are operated by TAG Aviation (U.K.) from London Farnborough,says its flights are attractive to business class travellers bearing in mind their point-to-point advantages and can be around half the price charged by some operators inthe larger private jet market.

Blink, which has raised U.S.$30 million in equity funding, says that many of itsclients are "trading up" from business class. Cameron Ogden, co md and foundersays: "A big attraction, of course, is that we fly to secondary cities and otherlocations not currently serviced by scheduled airlines. But what's been exciting forBlink is that our customers are both existing private jet users who have identifiedthe value proposition and those willing to move up from business class commercial


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travel."

VLJ operators may be attracting worthwhile business but there are warnings that thefocus must be on service as well as price.

George Galanopoulos, managing director of VLJ fleet operator London ExecutiveAviation (LEA) says: "At this stage, we are offering the Mustang on the conventionalcharter model, but at a price that is up to 30 per cent lower than most light tomidsize jets. Although some companies may well prove that you can operate newVLJ business models, with higher utilisation and even lower prices, you need anawful lot of aircraft to attempt that. Until many more roll off the production line, we

will have to wait to see."

He adds: "In the meantime, this industry has witnessed countless operators go outof business because of unrealistic pricing. Although customers like a good price,they also expect reliable and professional service across the board, which requiresthat you can invest on an ongoing basis. We therefore think that using the Mustangto better segment the traditional charter offering is a very good way to proceed."

LEA has five Mustangs in service with another five scheduled to join its fleet by early2009 and boasts it has the most Mustangs al ready in service. "We have been verypleased with the market's response to the Mustang. When you introduce acompletely new aircraft type, you usually expect the initial months to be quieter, aspeople become familiar with the model," says Galanopoulos. "However, theMustangs have all got off to a strong start. Our first one achieved over 150 revenuegenerating hours in its first two months. We believe this shows that the coremessage about VLJs is getting through - these aircraft are ideal for Europe, doingvirtually everything a larger jet can do, but at a much lower price."

Western Aviation has ordered an Eclipse 500 for delivery in the second quarter of 2009. The VLJ is a bright concept but the concept is still new to the Middle Eastmarket and it will take time for the aircraft to be established in numbers, accordingto Imran Ahmed, marketing executive.

Dr. Hans Hunziker, director of JetBird, which plans to acquire a mix of 100 EmbraerPhenom 100 and 300 says the business plan is to fly from regional airport toregional airport. "Our operation will be closer to the passenger and bring him closerto his actual destination. Additionally, we will aim for current business jet users whoare looking for better price/value and higher efficiency."

Hunziker says higher fuel prices are good for operators with efficient aircraft and low

specific fuel consumption. "They make life more difficult for competitors with oldaircraft," he points out.

Cyrus Sigari, president of JetAviva, says the company has chalked up well over 100VLJ sales and acquisition transactions and scores of technical acceptances, andprovides training services. "We have seen a tremendous amount of demand andinterest on the VLJ front from the European markets," he confirms.

But, if optimists and analysts do have a concern, it lies in the unfavourableeconomic cycle. Cian Dooley, chief commercial officer of Genesis Lease, says that theadvent of VLJs is exciting. "The concept of bringing new clients into private aviationseems sound. Small groups of three or four executives carrying out regionalbusiness schedules have to be very interested in what VLJs have to offer. VLJs do, of course, have an advantage in times of high fuel prices. I hope the time is right forthe concept, given the economic challenges that lie ahead."

Operators of VLJs, especially those investing in large fleets and economies of scale,are confident that business travellers disillusioned with scheduled services, willchoose point-to-point convenience.

Useful contact details from the Handbook of Business Aviation in Europe

Redstar Aviation Charter

Ado Air Charter

Prestige Jet Charter

Cessna Aircraft Company Aircraft

GlobeAir Charter

Blink Charter

London Executive Aviation Charter

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Western Aviation Charter

JetBird Charter

Embraer Aircraft

JetAvivaTraining/Simulation, Aircraft Management,Consultancy

Genesis Lease Finance & Leasing

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