UK start-up FlairJet continues to be the pioneer of Embraer's smallest business jets in Europe. The Oxford airport-based charter company will in July add the region's first Phenom 300 light jet to its fleet of three Phenom 100 very light jets, the latest of which arrives in May.

A further Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 should take its tally to six in the next few months, says chief executive David Fletcher, who forecasts a steadily improving market for business aviation in Europe this year. All its aircraft are operated under management, but the company plans to take delivery of its own Phenom 100 in 2012.

FlairJet, which began operations in January, targets corporate and leisure end-users who typically fly Cessna Mustangs or CJ1s and buy their flights through brokers, says Fletcher. It is averaging 2.4 passengers a flight and Fletcher says the company will exceed its target for 400 flight hours this year. The company is recruiting pilots, with immediate plans to add four to its team of 10, and four later in the year.

Its first two Phenom 100s are owned by the Reuben Brothers, the UK property tycoons who own FlairJet's base London Oxford airport, but the pair have no shareholding in the privately held company.

David Fletcher Flairjet
 © FlairJet

 

Source: Flight International