Charter Alerts

After a year of quiet development, Stellar Labs of Palo Alto, Calif., will launch its air charter marketplace platform and app on November 16 at the NBAA Convention in Las Vegas. Stellar aims to bring air charter the same ease of online business-to-commerce (B2C) seen in the hotel and airline industries. Several similar efforts have faltered since the rise and demise in 2009 of Virgin Charter, but company founder Paul Touw—who co-founded B2B platform Ariba, which was sold to SAP for $4.3 billion in 2012, and foundedXOJet—told Aviation Internatinal News that Stellar has identified and resolved all key issues. Technologically feasible or not, many industry veterans maintain that the complexity of the transactions and the sums involved deter charter customers from booking online. “I fundamentally disagree with that view,” Touw said, citing the growth in online auto sales and luxury home rentals, which initially aroused similar skepticism. Stellar has raised about $10 million, $7 million of which came in September from venture capital firms. Startup costs are low, Touw said, because developers are foregoing large paychecks they would otherwise command in favor of equity.

By Jennifer Agress, Haute Living

For most of us, there are few things more exhilarating than hopping on a plane and flying somewhere exotic. And with private jet travel gaining popularity in South Florida — a 22% rise in the past year alone, to be exact — Miami’s finest are traveling with more luxuries than ever.

Just last week (on a Challenger 601, no less), we had the fabulous opportunity to meet Adam Twidell, CEO of the UK-based PrivateFly, to learn about his company, why private jets are the only way to fly, and of course, why the Magic City is hopping on the trend. Here’s what he had to say, below: 

When did you discover your passion for flying? “No one in my family was a pilot. I didn’t think you could just be a pilot! I was studying at the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Air Force was hosting a program where they would teach you to fly for two years for free, with no commitment to join. I was taking electrical engineering classes and wanted something more fun to do, so I signed up for the program. By the end of the two years, I just loved flying, so I became a pilot in the Royal Air Force.”

Why do people love private jet travel? “Mainly, flexibility, privacy on board, schedule and time — you depart at your time, when you’re ready. On a commercial flight, you’re fixed by their roots. Private jets can also get to a lot more airports than commercial planes, so they can bring people closer to their destinations. For me, I’ve always thought the holiday starts as soon as you get to the airport. It’s a completely different feeling at a Fixed-Base Operator than at hectic airport, where you’re rushing and worried about baggage.”

What inspired you to start PrivateFly? When I left the Royal Air Force, most people went into commercial flying, like with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. Then I discovered that you could be a private jet pilot, and it seemed fantastic. I joined NetJets, a great private air company, and I started speaking to customers there and noticed how unhappy they were; they were always so paranoid they were paying too much. One day, I was flying passengers from London to Nice, and we were flying back with an empty plane, only to go back later to pick them up. I met a crew of an identical plane flying the exact same route, but in opposite directions, and it made me think: If these two companies had known that they were both flying the same track, could they have worked together and worked it out? That’s where the internet came in — I talked to people in the industry and they told me no one would ever book a private jet online. I’m glad I didn’t listen!”

What sets PrivateFly apart from the competition? “When customers come to us with a plane or helicopter inquiry, we immediately tell them what it should cost. Then, the request goes out to market and aircraft operators quote against each other — the customers watch all this going on, and can choose who they want to fly with. They can do all this online or on an app, or if they prefer, they can also do it with our live customer service team that’s around for 24 hours a day. We always know where our aircraft are because our technology actually integrates with the software they use. The difference with PrivateFly is all in its service, attention and technology. We’re doing what no one else is doing, and in the most affordable way possible.”

How far in advance does someone need to book a plane? “Our record for getting someone airborne from inquiry is 42 minutes — and we even had a car waiting for him when he landed. Most reservations, however, are made 2-3 days in advance.”

Why do you think Miami is such a big market for private jet travel? “Because of its location, Miami is a hub where you can fly to markets in all directions. It even has South American access, which is emerging. There’s also a lot of wealth in Miami and it’s so close to great destinations for holiday trips. East, you have the Caribbean, and you’re only 40 minutes from Cuba. You can cover the whole of the United States from Miami. Outside of that, there are so many languages spoken here, and it’s a great place in terms of both lifestyle and weather. Who wouldn’t want to be here?”

courtesy Haute Living

For the third year in a row, the international World Travel Awards awarded ElJet the top spot in the "Leading Private Jet Charter Company in North America" category, according to a company press release. Those companies in the running this year were:

• Air Charter Service USA
• Blue Star Jets
• Celebrity Jet Charter
• NetJets
• Paramount Business Jets
• Prive' Jets
• US Jetways
• XOJET

Companies in the running completed a nomination on the World Travel Awards website, and were eligible to be voted for by travel and tourism industry and non-industry registered users, with industry users counting as 2 votes. "Having competed with NetJets, XOJet and other larger on-demand private jet charter companies and coming up number one once again speaks to how successfully the ElJet message is resonating with our clients and industry wide," said Ben Schusterman, ElJet's CEO. The 2013 and 2014 awards propelled ElJet to achieve a record number of new clients, and flight hours booked in 2015, according to the company. ElJet expects this year's recognition to continue to help the company soar to even greater heights in 2016. About The World Travel Awards The purpose of these awards is to recognize travel organizations in the world through a global industry vote.  In these recent awards, nearly 650,000 professionals in the tourism sector voted in 191 countries.  Of 8 regions, the North American region had 46 award categories.

Business jet charter card provider Magellan Jets has launched a new Corporate Membership program. The new card for companies committing to a minimum of 100 flight hours promises greater flexibility and value with features such as guaranteed aircraft availability with six hours notice—compared with eight hours for individual members—and no peak-day restrictions, surcharges or black-out dates. Other benefits of Corporate Membership include aircraft no older than 2004 delivery, compared with the usual 2000 for individual members; members can push back departure times by up to two hours; $100 million minimum liability insurance for all aircraft categories, versus $50 million for light jets; catering included; WiFi guaranteed for midsize aircraft and larger; 15-percent credit for roundtrip flights; and 5-percent credit on legs of more than four hours. Flight hour rates are between 10 and 18 percent higher than for individual memberships, but the program includes additional long-range jets such as the Gulfstream G550 and G650, as well as the Bombardier Global 5000 and 6000. courtesy AIN Online, Charles Alcock

Pentastar Aviation Charter has added a 2014 Falcon 2000LXS to it's available charter fleet.  The new aircraft based at KPTK Pontiac-Oakland County Airport features 9 seats, berthing for 4, a forward galley, HD+ Cabin Entertainment System and Wi-Fi on board. This brings to 11 the total charter aircraft on certificate and available from Pentastart Aviation Charter, based at KPTK and at KIND Indianapolis.

All 11 Pentastar aircraft are available only in FlightList PRO; other industry sources list 6 or less.  

Pentastar's full fleet on Part-135 certificate includes 3 long range and heavy jets, 2 super-midsize jets, 4 midsize and light jets, and a Cessna 182 for economical regional hops. Pentastar and their new Falcon 2009LXS are rated ARGUS Platinum, Wyvern Wingman, and registered IS-BAO, as shown in FlightList PRO.

Next month, the United Nations (UN) is hosting a procurement seminar in New York City.  The event, “Air Charter Opportunities with the United Nations: A seminar for U.S. Companies,” is on Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at the U.S. Mission to the UN. The seminar will provide operators with information on doing business with the UN and the process to register and bid on future charter opportunities. Information, including an agenda and registration details is available for download from NATA here.

CI Jets, a division of Camarillo-based Channel Islands Aviation, has expanded its charter jet business into the Santa Barbara market, reports Sarah Oberman Bartush, chief marketing officer with Channel Islands Aviation. CI Jets, which is ARGUS Gold-rated and Wyvern-Registered, will begin operating from the Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), and operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The CI Jets passenger fleet includes two Cessna Citations; a CJ2 and CJ3.  The CJ2 is based in  Santa Barbara. Along with the jet charter business, CI Jets also offers aircraft maintenance services, mentor pilots for owner-flown aircraft and jet brokerage services. Family-owned Channel Islands Aviation was established in 1976 to fly private charter aircraft to the Channel Islands. Today, the company still flies to the Channel Islands and also provides fixed-base operator services, aircraft sales, aircraft maintenance and a flight school.

Pilatus PC-12 N8YU is available for charter and now based at KASE Aspen, Colorado and operated under cert. # 3CRA585M by Bubba Air LLC. The 2006 PC-12 is one of just three charter aircraft based at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport.  Others are a King Air 350 and Embraer Phenom 100 operated by Mayo Aviation. With seating for up to 7 passengers maximum, the Pilatus PC-12 clocks just a 30 minute flight to Denver, 2 hours 45 minutes to Dallas and 3 hours to Los Angeles.

Aircraft and operator are only in FlightList PRO

Seen by many as the ultimate accolade for companies in the air charter industry, the winners of the BACA Excellence Awards are chosen by the membership of BACA, via a vote from a shortlist of finalists, also decided by the members. On the 14^th October over 380 executives from the air charter industry gathered at London’s Guildhall for the Baltic Air Charter Association’s (BACA) annual awards ceremony. On the 14^th October the winners were as follows: Best Passenger Charter Airline (sponsored by The Charter Company) Winner: Titan Airways Best Cargo Charter Airline  (sponsored by Chapman Freeborn) Winner: Volga-Dnepr Airlines Best General Aviation Operator (sponsored by Direct Air Charters) Winner: London Executive Aviation Best Handling Agent / FBO (sponsored by LEA) Winner: TAG Farnborough Airport BACA Global Excellence Award (sponsored by ACS) Winner: Air Hamburg BACA Humanitarian Award (sponsored by DHL) Winner: AirLec Air Espace Tony Coe, BACA Chairman paid tribute to the dedication of BACA members in what has been a busy six months since the last association lunch. Tony congratulated the winners and noted that the 2015 BACA Excellence Awards were “an occasion to honour those companies that have performed outstandingly over the last 12 months and upheld the high values and standards that are the essence of BACA.”