Two Singaporean businessmen are trying to launch South-East Asia's first fractional ownership programme using secondhand Cessna Citation IIs.
Executive Jet Asia (EJA) was incorporated in Singapore last year and aims to start operations before mid-year, says chief operating officer Douglas Robinson.
The company has approached dozens of potential customers in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and says it has sold enough $500,000 shares – each for one-sixth of a Citation II – to launch the programme. EJA is about to import its first Citation II from the USA and five to seven additional aircraft will follow, says Robinson.
But business aviation industry sources with close ties to some of the potential customers say they are reluctant to commit and EJA is well short of the 36 commitments required to support a minimum fleet of six aircraft. Several companies including NetJets have failed in previous attempts to set up fractional programmes in South-East Asia because they could not sell enough shares.
Robinson acknowledges the Citation II will have to stop for fuel when flying to cities such as Hong Kong, and EJA will have to "load and go" to keep the cabin from becoming too hot. EJA is backed mainly by its two directors, David Ho and Prithpal Singh.
Source: Flight International
