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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 2861.PDF
BUSINESS AVIATION EXPANSION KATE SARSFIELD / LONDON Club Airways considers buying large-cabin types Aircraft earmarked for longer-haul routes and those with load factor of more than 65% Club Airways, Europe's sole mem bers-only business airline, may introduce large-cabin aircraft types next year as it races to achieve a target of 5,000 members by the end of 2004. Hans Schwab, Club Airways founder and chief executive, says the company is eyeing the Bombardier CRJ100/200 and Embraer Legacy, which he says offer a large passenger cabin and low operating costs and are ideal for intercontinental travel. "Although there are few Legacys in operation in Europe," Schwab says, "we are not worried about air craft availability in this economic climate." He says the large cabin types would be earmarked on routes with a load factor of over 65%, such as Geneva to Paris Le Bourget, and on longer-haul routes like Geneva and London to Moscow Vnukovo. Club Airways, which was launched in February, operates scheduled services from its Geneva base to business aviation centres in Basle, London City, Paris Le Bourget, and Milan. The route net work is serviced by Cessna Citation Bravos, Citation lis and Dassault Falcon 20s owned and operated by Club Airways operating partners Jet Aviation of Switzerland and Elbe Air and Triple Alpha of Germany. Last week UK operator Bookajet International began services for Club Airways, using its BAe 125-700 and Raytheon Hawker 800s. Schwab says early next year the company will introduce new routes and establish bases in key German business centres. "We expect the German market to be very popu lar," he adds. Club Airways will first launch the Diisseldorf to London service, followed by Munich, which will link Geneva, London, Paris and Zurich. "Frankfurt will follow later in the year," Schwab says. The company's rapid expansion has resulted in over 550 members in under 10 months, of which over 100 are in the UK and the rest in Geneva. Over the next 12 months Club Airways will create an operat ing structure at each destination in an attempt to build up regional membership. • South African members-only busi ness class shuttle service SunAir is hoping to add routes to its network as part of a liberalisation of scheduled services from Johannesburg's Lanseria corporate jet airport. The company, majority-owned by venture capitalist CIRC, started a shuttle between Lanseria and Cape Town International with a McDon nell Douglas DC-9-32 in September. This was Lanseria's first scheduled service. Resultant rule changes mean the operator may add a shut tle to Virginia airport in Durban. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JUSTIN WASTNAGE IN JOHANNESBURG Elbe Air of Germany is one of Club Airways' operating partners STRATEGY London City Jet Centre to expand operations London City Airport Jet Centre plans to add a second aircraft to its fledgling charter operation and says it may brand the charter busi ness as demand continues to grow. London City Airport took deliv ery of a Dassault Falcon 900EX in July 2002, becoming the only inter national airport to own and operate aircraft commercially. Jet Centre manager Darren Grover says the privately owned company has yet to decide what size of aircraft would best suit its needs, but it is unlikely to be a Cessna Citation Excel or Bravo, as operated by London Executive Aviation (LEA), which has a base at the airport. "Our oper ations are complementary," he says. London City is also mulling over the second phase of Jet Centre's expansion as demand for the facil ity continues to rise from operators of aircraft now approved for the airport's 5.5° steep approach, including the Excel, Bravo and Embraer Legacy. "We have approved 80 operators in the last 12 months," Grover says, and with Bombardier Learjet 45, Challenger 604 and Raytheon Hawker 800XP approvals immi nent, pressure to increase the ter minal size and parking area will mount. Jet Centre is also keen to accommodate corporate charters, but Grover says: "We do not want to compromise our core [VIP] busi ness, so we will have to expand the facility to accommodate the higher volumes of passengers associated with these operations." CONSORTIUM Czech team plans twin turboprop Seventeen companies from the Czech Aviation Manufac turers' Association (AVL) have formed a consortium to manu facture a new twin-turboprop business aircraft, writes Lubomir Sedlak. The consortium of second- tier manufacturers, to be headed by Evektor Aerotechnik, is understood to have drawn up provisional plans for a 10- to 15-seat com muter aircraft, initially called the EV-55. The project is funded under the offset pro gramme tied to the country's selection of the Saab/BAE Systems Gripen fighters and is likely to include expertise from Sweden and the UK. The country's now-bank rupt national manufacturer LZ Aeronautical Industries, which builds Moravan types, is not involved in the project, neither is Ibis Aerospace joint venture shareholder Aero Vodochody. But Petr Sterba, deputy managing director of Evektor, insists that "nothing has as yet been concluded". If the Gripen is selected, the civilian project could be funded through local indus trial participation agreements, although Sterba insists that the project is not dependent on the Gripen bid winning. AVL president Milan Holl says the association distrib uted hundreds of question naires to potential customers worldwide, asking them what kind of aircraft they would be interested in. "The require ments included twin engines for reasons of safety, and a single-engine speed of around 450km/h [273kt]," he says. Holl says a prototype could be ready in three to four years, with production in the Czech Republic and foreign manu facturers supplying equipment such as avionics. "We would need a strategic partner for marketing and for international sales," he says. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9-15 DECEMBER 2003 23
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