ExecuJet Aviation has launched a lease-based aircraft ownership programme designed to provide an alternative to fractional, charter and traditional ownership.
The programme, called Simply Fly, will make business jets available to individual clients and operate them on a full turnkey basis, which will cover crew, insurance, maintenance and handling.
"The Simply Fly programme allows a customer to have full use of their own aircraft [up to 800 flying hours a year] and a dedicated crew for a typical programme period of five years, without the burden and risks of ownership," says ExecuJet chief executive Niall Olver.
ExecuJet plans to begin operations in September with a pair of used large-cabin Bombardier Challenger 604s.
New aircraft will also be offered and ExecuJet is negotiating with Bombardier for whom it has been a long-serving sales agent, for the purchase of an initial batch of ultra long-range Global XRS and Challengers.
A fleet of up to 10 aircraft is planned by the end of the year, says Olver. ExecuJet says customers will have the choice of an operating lease or lease finance terms that would result in their buying the asset at the end of the standard 60-month term.
The programme will be offered in the UK initially "which is a quality transient market", says Olver.
In an attempt to exploit the burgeoning demand for business aviation in the UK, Zurich-headquartered ExecuJet has opened an aircraft handling, operations and sales base at London City Airport.
The company received its air operators certificate last month and has taken delivery of a managed Dassault Falcon 900 business jet which will be available for charter. A second long-range aircraft will be added to the fleet at the end of the month.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
