Zenith Aviation adds two jets to fleet increasing charter offering
Zenith Aviation has added two new business jets to its fleet, bringing the total for the London Biggin Hill Airport-based operator to eight aircraft.
The company has added a Citation Latitude and a Citation Jet CJ2 to its UK AOC for an undisclosed fee. The Latitude will be based at Biggin Hill and the CJ2 at Manchester Airport with both aircraft already available for charter.
Zenith Aviation MD , Stuart Mulholland told Corporate Jet Investor: “Both the jets will enhance the variety we can provide within our charter offering and further expand our UK footprint. The Citation Latitude gives us the capability to fly to destinations further afield as it has a range of six hours. It can also comfortably sit eight people and is the most luxurious aircraft we have within our fleet. The CJ2 will bolster our shorter-range capabilities and sit alongside our M2 [Cessna CitationJet].
“The addition of these jets allows us to cater for a wider range of customer needs and we can now offer more flexibility in the destinations that we serve, be they the shorter routes within the UK on the CJ series or the longer ranges better suited to the Latitude.”
Dan Welinder, Zenith Aviation’s head of Aircraft Management, who acts as the interface between the company and clients, added: “The M2 is proving hugely popular with our customers, so much so that we expect to add at least two further aircraft to this fleet before the end of the year. The first is expected to leave the US in early September with the final of the expected M2s, for now at least, following soon after. It is fair to say that we are looking forward to a busy end to what has been a very difficult year for everyone.”
Zenith Aviation currently has five Learjets, one Citation M2, one CJ2 and one Latitude in the fleet. However, as noted, despite the impacts from Covid-19 the firm is expecting to add a further two M2’s and a CJ2 before the end of the year.
Mulholland added: “Lockdown in the UK was not impacting activity levels as much as cross border restrictions put in place throughout Europe. However once ‘air corridors’ began to open up, demand for private jet travel increased markedly. Since the UK has introduced further quarantine measures we’ve seen activity levels dropping to around 70-75% of what we would expect a typical August to be.”
