Portuguese charter operator Air Luxor is seeking a separate aircraft operator's certificate (AOC) for its Corporate Jets division, as it embarks on a bid to quadruple its Airbus A319 Corporate Jetliner managed fleet in the next year, writes Justin Wastnage.
Air Luxor relaunched its business aviation division last month under the name Masterjet, which has been given autonomy following internal restructuring within the Mirpuri Holdings group. Masterjet chief executive Marianela Mirpuri says the aim is to acquire a unique AOC this year to expand operations of ACJs across Europe and the Middle East. "Under Air Luxor, Corporate Jets was considered as a secondary business, only accounting for 10% of revenues, so we decided to spin off Masterjet to concentrate on business aviation," she says.
Masterjet has conducted several demonstration flights on behalf of Airbus using its Paris Le Bourget-based managed ACJ, and expects to pick up around three further managed ACJs next year as a result, Mirpuri adds. The Lisbon-based company has also acquired sales rights to the aircraft and has proposed operating Airbus's own demonstrator aircraft. The move comes as Masterjet prepares to formally announce a new facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which it plans to follow with similar sites in second Saudi city Riyadh and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Masterjet operated a temporary fixed-base operation (FBO) at Lisbon Portela airport during the recent European football championship and is in talks with airport authorities to open a dedicated business aviation terminal at the airport.
Mirpuri Holdings, meanwhile, plans to complete its African FBO and ground handling portfolio with the addition of Mozambican and Angolan facilities next year, in addition to sites in Cape Verde, São Tomé & Principe and Guinea Bissau.
Source: Flight International
