GlobeAir [stand 1763] today reinforced its claim to be one of the few European companies to have made a success of the once widely hyped very light jet-based air taxi model.

The Austrian operator, which has a fleet of 11 Cessna Citation Mustangs, was established in 2007, one of a raft of start-ups aiming to offer low-cost, on-demand charter services based on high utilisation of a new breed of VLJs such as the Eclipse 500, Embraer Phenom 100 and Mustang.

GlobeAir confirms it finished its 2012 financial year with pre-tax profits of more than €200,000 ($257,000).

Speaking at a press conference this morning, GlobeAir founder and chief executive Bernhard Fragner said: "From the outset, we knew there had to be a more efficient way of running a private jet business successfully.

"Through our innovative business model we have achieved economies of scale. The shift in the charter market and the resulting downgrading has actually been very beneficial for us.

"Not only has the VLJ sector gained strength, GlobeAir has flourished, and I expect that we will continue to grow in the coming three years. I still believe, and our numbers actually show, that our business model is the only efficient way of doing business in this industry, at least in Europe."

Source: Flight Daily News