Business aviation services provider The Private Jet Company has broken ground on the Isle of Man's first dedicated VIP passenger terminal at its base at Ronaldsway airport.
The building - which is scheduled to open in the second quarter of the year - is part of a two-phase, multi-million pound building programme for the company that will include more than 5,000m2 [53,820ft2] of business aircraft hangarage.
The Private Jet - which provides aircraft sales, leasing and registration alongside its bespoke management and travel service for private aircraft owners and users - has seen its business soar since its conception in 2007.
Company managing director Tony Corlett attributes this demand in part to the island's booming private aircraft registry, which has helped attract new customers to the British dependency in the Irish Sea.
The Manx registry of M-prefixed aircraft is expected to total 500 by the middle of the year. The Private Jet has also benefited, Corlett said, from the island's thriving specialist offshore financial and legal industries, which also attract a great deal of custom from wealthy individuals and companies.
The Private Jet has focused on the European and US markets to date but hopes to widen its customer base to the Middle East and Asia, which have a growing pool of very wealthy individuals who do not want or need to sell excess hours to the charter market.
"Our management programme is tailored to owners for whom chartering their aircraft is never an option," Corlett said.
Source: Flight International
