Flexjet acquires Flairjet from Marshall
Flexjet has acquired Birmingham UK based charter and management company Flairjet, giving the Directional Aviation Capital company the AOC it needs to begin European operations.
Flexjet originally announced their intentions to enter Europe with the acquisition of a locally based operator during the 2016 EBACE show in Geneva, with the goal of having a small fleet of Nextant 400XTis in operation by the end of the year.
With the acquisition of Flairjet, and its associated AOC, European CEO Ray Jones says this is still largely on track, although could move into the first quarter of 2017, depending on the complexities of integrating Flairjet into the Flexjet family.
Originally setup and run from Oxford Airport, Flairjet moved to Birmingham in early 2015 when parent company Marshall Aviation Services took over the lease of the existing FBO following the demise of previous occupant Eurojet Aviation.
The company offers a mixture of aircraft charter and management, and has become a Phenom expert, offering Phenom pilot training courses, as well as new aircraft acceptance and delivery ferry flights.
The current Flairjet fleet will be kept, and Flexjet will look on expanding both the charter and managed aircraft fleets. “Nothing changes in the near term, all that has really changed is the ownership and then as we move forward the most noticeable piece that will come is the introduction and deployment of a third category of aircraft within that AOC.” says Jones.
The third category, according to Jones, is the introduction of Flexjet’s own aircraft.
Flexjet had already identified the Nextant 400XTi as the perfect aircraft for its European operations.
“It is a difficult market” says Jones, “That brings its own challenges. It’s very price sensitive market, but at the same time what we have is the ideal opportunity. We have the opportunity to service our existing clients here, and in the 400XT will have the a very good value proposition in terms of what the aeroplane will do, and where we think we can place it in terms of price point to do that.”
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