Luxaviation, Europe’s largest business aircraft charter and management company, is planning to quintuple its fleet from 100 to 500 aircraft by the end of the decade through the “strategic acquisition” of operators across the globe.
“Our plan is to be the largest business aircraft operator in the world after NetJets,” says Luxaviation chief executive Patrick Hansen. NetJets has around 700 aircraft.
The six-year-old Luxaviation, based in Luxembourg, started down the acquisition trail in October 2011 with the purchase of Germany’s FairJets. Since then it has snapped up four other European operators: the UK's London Executive Aviation, France's Unijet, Belgium's Abelag and Portugal’s Masterjet.
“We are always on the lookout to buy financially sound operators,” Hansen says. He suggests the current economic climate in Europe, coupled with its increasingly bureaucratic and restrictive operating environment, has been hard on smaller operators. “These are tough times for small charter companies and consolidation is the inevitable outcome for some,” he adds.
The Luxaviation fleet spans the business aircraft spectrum, including types such as the entry-level Cessna Citation Mustang, super-midsize Bombardier Challenger 300, the long-range Dassault Falcon 7X and the Airbus A320 airliner.
“In Europe, we have built a critical mass of aircraft, which enables us to operate at a high level of efficiency,” Hansen says. “We would like to expand this offering globally.”
Luxaviation’s immediate focus is on Asia – already home to two of its Embraer Legacy 600s, both based in Singapore. “We are looking to buy operators in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, and hope to make our first acquisition this year,” Hansen says.
By the end of the decade Luxaviation plans to extend its reach globally, with Latin America, Africa and the Middle East – where it already has a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s NasJet – of particular interest.
““In the next five years we plan to have more than 150 aircraft in Europe, and around the same number in Asia and the rest of the world,” Hansen says.
Source: Flight International
