CarinaStar Shares, a fledgling fractional-ownership company dealing in top-of-the-range piston aircraft, plans to take its second pair of new Raytheon Beechcrafts in December.
Operations at the Hilton Head Island, South Carolina-based company started earlier this year with a Beech Baron B-58. Six months later a Jaguar Edition A36 Bonanza was acquired and further aircraft "will be added to the fleet when demand requires", says CarinaStar Shares president Michael Rindler.
Based on Executive Jet Aviation's pioneering NetJets fractional ownership programme, CarinaStar Shares is striving to build a similar business around a fleet of Bonanzas and Barons. The aircraft can be owner flown or piloted through CarinaStar Shares charter subsidiary CarinaStar Airways, recently awarded FAR Part 135 approval by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Rindler says the appeal of CarinaStar Shares is price. A quarter share in a Bonanza (for example) costs $149,500, while the same fraction of a Baron is $249,500 - both 25% of the purchase price. Monthly management and hourly operating costs also apply.
Source: Flight International
