UK charter company Blink has snapped up fellow Italian operator MyJet in anticipation of a revival of the air taxi market in Europe. The acquisition of the Milan-based company boosts Blink’s fleet of Cessna Citation Mustangs from six to nine and gives the venture a foothold in the maintenance segment.
“The purchase of MyJet is another piece in jigsaw that were are tying to assemble,” says Blink co-founder and managing director Cameron Ogden. “It brings three Mustangs and also a Part 145 line and base maintenance facility, something we have been keen to move into for a while."
Blink was one of Europe’s earliest adopters of the low-cost air taxi concept. Launched in 2008, the privately-owned company had plans to implement a pan-European point-to-point service, but the collapse of the financial market later that year put its expansion on hold.
Blink’s fleet of six Mustangs have nonetheless flown 17,000 passengers over 4.5 million miles on ad hoc charter flights, Ogden says, with each of the entry-level aircraft averaging around 600h per year.
Ogden remains convinced that the air taxi market will return as the European economy picks up and travellers start to explore more flexible methods of transportation.
“We now have nine aircraft, but sweet spot is between 12 and 15,” he says. “This gives you wider coverage, higher utilisation and consequently allows you to bring the price point down to a level that many people would consider affordable. For example around £2,000 for a return trip to Paris [for the whole aircraft].”
In a separate move, Blink has acquired its home base of Blackbushe airport which it hopes to develop as a key centre for business and general aviation in the south of England.
The transaction also brings the operator a sense of control and security, it says, “in an industry where operators and customers are often at the mercy of high aircraft parking charges and landing fees”.
Blink is also preparing the launch new technology upgrades to its booking system that it says “will deliver the private aviation holy grail of real-time pricing and availability”.
Source: Flight Daily News
