FlightTime has secured $25 million in the second round of funding for its internet business aviation charter company.
The funding will be used to develop technology to create a simple, seamless and effective solution to providing charter online for operators and customers, says the company.
FlightTime founder and chief executive Jane McBride explains: "We want to develop real-time access to a global fleet of audited aircraft residing on a single system via the internet, which until now the charter industry has lacked."
The software will be an extension of FlightTime's Alliance partnership programme, launched last year to eliminate many of the problems associated with aircraft availability, as well as create and satisfy demand for online charter. Using Alliance, McBride says, charter providers can schedule aircraft and crews, dispatch, follow and log flights, and create invoices and reports via the internet.
The funding will also be spent on marketing and developing FlightTime's block charter incentive scheme "Freedom Plan" to which around 50 customers have been signed, and its ailing "virtual airline" corporate shuttle programme.
The corporate shuttle can provide favourable cost savings over the normal scheduled service and our job is to convince large corporations that this method of transportation is a viable alternative to airline travel."
McBride is bullish, however, and hopes to sign a European customer by the end of the second quarter.
Source: Flight International
