India's Orient Flight School has added a Raytheon Beechcraft Beechjet 400, ahead of launching a fractional-ownership business aircraft programme.
Director Anand Jacob Verghese says the Beechjet is initially being used as a trainer for pilots seeking jet endorsements, but later this year it will also be offered to corporate clients on a fractional-ownership 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 corporate charters in southern India.
"We felt the need to induct a small jet to cater to the growing 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 charter operators in India and Chennai-based Orient Flight will be the first to offer a fractional-ownership programme.
Source: Flight International