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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0999.PDF
BUSINESS AVIATION EXPANSION BRENDAN SOBIE / SINGAPORE China's Deer Jet adds to its fleet VIP carrier to introduce Gulfstream IV and Raytheon Premier I and plans tourist charters with 737-300s Chinese VIP charter operator Deer Jet is adding a Gulfstream IV and Raytheon Premier I to its fleet of six Raytheon Hawker 800XPs. The Hainan Airlines subsidiary also plans to expand into tourist charter flights with two Boeing 737-300s. Deer Jet will become the second Chinese operator of the GIV this month and the first Chinese opera tor of the Premier I light jet in the third quarter, say industry sources. Deer Jet has ordered one new Premier I to test the market for light jet charters in China. "If the FRACTIONALS Beechjet 400 lured by India's Orient India's Orient Flight School has added a Raytheon Beechcraft Beechjet 400, ahead of launching a frac tional-ownership business aircraft programme. Director Anand Jacob verghese says the Beechjet is initially being used as a trainer for pilots seeking jet endorse ments, but later this year it will also be offered to corporate clients on a fractional-owner ship basis. Orient Flight now offers a mix of training courses with five Cessna 152s, two Cessna 172s, a Beechcraft King Air C90A and Piper Seneca III. The KingAir, added in 2001, is also used for corpo rate charters in southern India. "We felt the need to induct a small jet to cater to the grow ing needs of the corporate customer who, at the moment, has requirements only within the country, which would essentially only require the smaller jets," Verghese says. He says there are only a handful of business jet char ter operators in India and Chennai-based Orient Flight will be the first to offer a frac tional-ownership programme. market is positive, we will get more," says a Deer Jet source. The delivery was initially sched uled for late last year, but Deer Jet, which earlier tested the small jet market with a Raytheon Beechjet light business jet, is now commit ted to taking the Premier I by September. The mid-size 800XP is the small est aircraft in the Chinese charter market - Shanghai Airlines also operates one and will take a second by year-end - and operators say there is more demand for small jets The Macedonian government is expected to launch a tender for a new head-of-state aircraft, follow ing the crash of its Beechcraft King Air 200 earlier this year. President Boris Trajkovski and eight others were killed near Mostar, southern Bosnia-Herzegovina, on Business aviation services company Execujet aims to double its man agement of Bombardier Global Express long-range business jets in Europe over the next three years. Peter Smales, managing director of Execujet Europe, expects the air craft, of which Execujet's bases in Copenhagen and Zurich have two each, to be "in great demand" over the next few years. An additional rather than larger types. Deer Jet, however, wants to also test the market for larger aircraft by adding a used GIV, although a company source acknowledges that the aircraft will be tough to sell for charter. The source also says Raytheon is leasing the GIV and Deer Jet may later switch to a super mid-size Hawker Horizon if there is sufficient demand. Air China has leased a used GIV from Gulfstream since November and is considering adding or switching to a smaller type. 26 February, leaving Macedonia without a dedicated VIP aircraft. A Learjet 25B was transferred to the Macedonian air force in 2002 for advanced pilot training and for cali brating ground-based radar stations. The 1976 Learjet, based at Petrovec air base, near the capital Skopje, is four types are set to join Execujet's fleet before 2007. "We have come out of a difficult [trading] environ ment and we expect a sudden mas sive upswing in demand for the long range of this aircraft and, due to the long lead time for new orders, much of this demand will be satis fied by charter activity," he says. Execujet Europe plans to "expand its relationship with Deer Jet hopes to expand into the larger Boeing Business Jet, but admits the market is not yet mature enough. Instead, the carrier will add one 737-300 at the end of this month and a second in the third quarter. These aircraft will cater to the growing demand for tourist rather than VIP charters. All four of China's business jet operators are unprofitable, but Deer Jet is enjoying a higher average air craft utilisation rate than the others, despite having over half of the com bined fleet. awaiting overhaul and is likely to be offered for sale. The Macedonian government is looking to acquire a brand-new VIP jet, with the Bombardier Learjet 60 or Dassault Falcon 50 considered to be front runners, says the defence ministry. Bombardier", he says, with the pos sibility of opening a UK dealership. "We've told Bombardier that we see logical areas of expansion, and these talks have been positive," says Smales. Execujet Europe also expects to add around two Learjet 40s, two Learjet 45s and two Learjet 60s over the next two years as it expands into central and east ern Europe, he adds. The Learjet 60 is a possible replacement for the former Yugoslav republic's crashed VIP aircraft REPLACEMENT IGOR BOZINOVSKI / SKOPJE Macedonia starts search for VIP jet EXPANSION ExecuJet to increase Global Express operations 28 15-21 JUNE 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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