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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0697.PDF
BUSINESS AVIATION TAKEOVER JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON Net Jets Europe absorbs Marquis Fractional operator hopes takeover of MJE will provide impetus to catch up with transatlantic sister business The European arm of fractional operator Netjets has taken over control of sub-fractional members club Marquis Jet Europe (MJE) to boost promotion of the scheme. Netjets Europe is expected to finalise its 100% acquisition of MJE this week after merging operations into a joint company three months ago. Robert Dranitzke, Netjets Europe director of business devel opment, says: "Netjets investors could see that if Marquis Jet had the money behind it in Europe, with a bigger budget for advertis ing, sales and public relations, it could have a huge potential." MJE was established three years ago by private UK investors along side funding from its US parent Marquis Jet, to sell smaller chunks of Netjets fractions to European customers. The company now has around 180 members, but is lagging behind the US operation, which is selling around 100 of its 25h Marquis Jet Cards a month. Netjets Europe decided to bring the MJE operation in-house to increase re sources and catch up with US sales. Netjets Europe is in the process of hiring 10 additional sales direc tors to plug gaps in the company's European coverage, including Germany, Greece, Russia and Turkey as well as adding to teams in other territories. Dranitzke says the sales teams will be combined, which will elimi nate any previous agendas. "Our salesmen will be able to offer best advice to clients, rather than lean- NetJets Europe will add 20 new aircraft this year, bringing its fleet to 60 ing towards either the card or a fraction," he says. Netjets Europe has increased MJE's target to 250 new members this year from 150 in 2003 as a result of the increased spending. Netjets Europe will take delivery of 20 new aircraft this year taking its fleet to 60. Of the four aircraft already delivered since January, the Gulfstream IV-SP is sold out, and a GV is 50% sold, says Dranitzke. RAYTHEON RVSM Raytheon Aircraft Services has received US supplemental type certification for a reduced verti cal separation minimum (RVSM) upgrade for the Raytheon Beechjet 400 and Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond business jets. Work continues on an RVSM solution for aircraft that are equipped with Bendix/King EFS-10 and KFC- 400 avionics. SIGNATURE SIGNS Signature Flight Support has acquired the assets of the AirKaman fixed-based operation (FBO) at Cecil Field in Florida. The US FBO chain acquired AirKaman's operation at nearby Jacksonville International airport in 200£ PRIVATE DORNIER Berlin-based corporate charter operator Private Wings has taken delivery of its second Dornier 328Jet from AvCraft. The 32-seat aircraft will be based at Manching in southern Germany and will be used as a corporate shuttle. TESTING P&WC to flight test first PW610F small turbofan Pratt & Whitney Canada expects to start flight tests of its PW610F small turbofan for the Eclipse 500 very light jet in August after beginning ground runs on 4 May at its Longueuil, Quebec site where the engine exceeded its 9001b (4kN) take-off thrust rating after only five hours. The PW610F will be mounted on the company's Boeing 720 for flight tests before the first shipset is deliv ered to the Eclipse Aviation site in Albuquerque, New Mexico to power the first flight of the production con forming aircraft in the fourth quar ter of 2004. The PW610F, along with its stablemate the PW615F for Cessna's Citation Mustang, which flew for the first time on 27 April, are the founding members of what P&WC intends to be a new family of lightweight, low-cost turbofans in the 900-3,0001b-thrust range. "We expect to sell these engines in great numbers, so we have to get a flawless entry-into-service," says P&WC small turbofans director Maurice Weinberg. He adds: "We've made the engines very simple because they're easier to maintain." The two engines are "easy to put together" he continues. The diminu tive PW610F has a 36.5cm (14.4in) fan diameter, a high pressure (HP) compressor comprising one mixed half axial, half centrifugal stage and one centrifugal stage with single HP and LP turbine stages. The slightly larger PW615F, rated at 1,3501b thrust, has a 40.5cm (16in) diameter "managed shock" fan also made up of similarly shaped integrated bladed rotors. The PW610F and PW615F test efforts each involve three full-up test engines and additional test cores. The fourth PW610F test engine, a durability powerplant, will be used to run up lOOh of continuous opera tions around July before being used for flight tests the following month. Meanwhile, the first production standard PW615Fs are due to be delivered to Cessna in early 2005, leading to certification in the fourth quarter. Certification of the PW610F for the Eclipse is scheduled for the first quarter of 2006. CORPORATE SHUTTLE NAS to add A319s to fleet Saudi charter operator National Air Services (NAS) is close to finalising delivery details with Airbus for the two A319 Corporate Jetliners (ACJ) it plans to deploy on its Al-Khalaya scheduled business-class shut tle service. Al-Khalaya services will include three-times-daily ACJ flights between the Saudi capital Riyadh and the main business centre Jeddah in the third quarter, says Mohammed al-Zeer, NAS chief executive. The aircraft will join the NAS charter fleet on the Arabic weekend, flying to destina tions such as Beirut in Lebanon, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh, he adds. NAS is concluding its interior specification with Airbus, which is likely to be a "40-plus-seat" VIP configuration, says al-Zeer. NAS, a NetJets Middle East fractional ownership programme operator, is the largest Boeing Business Jet operator in the region, but says Airbus offered "an interesting proposition". 30 18-24 MAY 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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