Charter Broker Updates

Air charter broker and now operator CSI Aviation of Albuquerque, NM has won approval to operate its own aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air B200 for charter.  The company has finished the process under the FAA of bringing the former Bear Aviation & Helicopter LLC and it's Beechcraft King Air B200 under its own management, operation and name, CSI Air. CSI Air now operates the 2001 8-passenger King Air B200, N505AW, based at KABQ Albuquerque, NM.  It's FAA air operator certificate #GRTA447E approves passenger and air ambulance operation in the US, Canada, Mexico and South America.  CSI Air is available in FlightList Pro.

Article in The Albuquerque Journal - CSI Aviation Expands its services

Air Charter Service's (ACS) North American and Asian offices have secured more than $25M in cargo aircraft charters in three weeks due to the port strike on the US West Coast.  The charter firm said it has arranged more than 40 large charter flights so far, mainly with Boeing 747 Freighters. ACS US operation president Richard Thompson said, "The port strikes here have affected 29 ports on the West Coast, which account for around 70% of all exports and imports to and from Asia, and many of these goods aren't able to wait or production lines will be forced to shutdown, costing tens of millions of dollars." It is estimated that almost 5,000 tons of automotive parts, perishables and other urgent cargoes have been flown on wide body charter aircraft. Full article in ship-technology.com  

The Air Charter Association of North America announced February 28 that it has appointed Joel Thomas as chairman of the association.  He is currently the CEO of Stratos Jets,a private jet brokerage company which became an ACANA member in 2010.  The following year Joel served as president of the nonprofit industry trade group.  During his tenure, ACANA expanded its membership by including Part-135 operators as well as industry service provider companies.  The association is a nonprofit industry trade group and professional association representing North America's air charter industry. Full press release here.  More ACANA information here http://flyacana.org/

Membership charter brokerage and mobile platform JetSmarter announced the appointment of Tom Engelhard as European General Manager.  Engerhard will be responsible for operating and overseeing JetSmarter's new office in Zurich where he will be accountable for furthering the brand's visibility and operator partnerships across Europe.  With nearly 25 years of European aviation industry experience, prior to JetSmarter Engelhard led the European Sales sector of private jets for broker Air Partner plc.

2014 trends in private flight activity, aircraft selection and charter booking reported by nationwide private jet charter leader New Flight Charters. Average charter spending in 2014 increased 15.0% over 2013, from an overall average $14,841 per charter to $17,068. The average includes all charter activity and aircraft types, from piston aircraft through heavy and long-range private jets. The increase is due in large part to a movement in charter demand in 2014 from smaller aircraft to larger -- namely into midsize and heavy jets. Midsize jet activity increased 18.8% year over year, and heavy jet activity nearly doubled for New Flight Charters. Meanwhile light jet and turboprop charters declined by 9.8% and 26.1% respectively. As a percent of total, midsize jet charters climbed from 15.6% to 20.5% year over year, and heavy jets jumped from 4.3% to 8.2% of all charters. Light jets however descended from 40.8% to 38.8% in 2014, and turboprops slowed from 23.4% to 18.6% of all charters for the year. New Flight Charters' results mirror TraqPak data released by aviation services company Argus, which reported Part-135 flight activity gains over 2013, including an increase in large-cabin and midsize jet flying, while turboprop flying finished the year down. AIRCRAFT POPULARITY The overall most popular aircraft chosen in 2014 was the light jet Citation 510/550/560 series, at 36.4% of light jets and 14.5% of all charters, followed by the Hawker 400XP light jet at 19.0% of light jets and 7.6% of all charters. Segmenting further, the midsize jet category featured the Hawker 800A/800XP as by far the most popular at 42.1% of all midsize jet charters and 8.7% of all charters. In heavy jets, the Bombardier Challenger series 300/601/604 was the heavy favorite, at 37% of the category. ABOUT 2014 RESULTS DATA Data is actual results from more than 750 U.S. domestic and international charter flights paid and flown in 2014, arranged by New Flight Charters.  Data is not from online searches, inquiries or projections. Charter fliers choose their aircraft and quote from the several best available for their flight, with no obligation or incentive to choose one or any. New Flight Charters employs aviation data company FlightList Pro to access the entire charter market without restriction. 2014 results, including the trends to larger jets and spending, is only from actual client demand and aircraft choice. Many factors influence the decision for a particular aircraft size and model, such as trip itinerary, flight leg lengths and passenger count.

Stratos Jet Charters, a leading private jet charter services provider, is proud to announce that they have recently earned the ARGUS Certified Charter Broker Rating.  “Stratos Jets is thrilled to be recognized as an ARGUS Certified Charter Broker,” company president Joel Thomas said, adding that he is especially pleased that the jet charters company was the first charter broker evaluated by ARGUS found to “meet or exceed” the rigorous standards of the ARGUS On-site Audit during its first review.  Full release here