Citing improved infrastructural development in the aviation industry and increasing demand for chatter services, a private jet operator said it has deployed 20 of its Bombardier Changier 605 to Nigeria and other African countries to provide chatter services to business owners.
VistaJet President for Europe and Africa, Philippe Scalabrini, during a roadshow to announce their debut in West Africa, said they aimed to provide an alternative to owning a jet.
He mentioned that from experience they have found out that private jet owners do not make full use of their aircraft as they fly less than 50-100 hours in a year but spend so much on maintenance getting crew members and many other expenses.
Scalabrini who mentioned that the company is celebrating 20 years of providing chatter services globally disclosed that they have about 300 aircraft in their fleet and had been to about 96 percent of countries in the world.
According to him, they have been operating in Africa for the past 14 years and have since deployed over 20 aircraft to the region and are starting with three aircraft in the West African region but with increasing demand, they are willing to increase the fleet.
He said “We operate world wide but we are deploying our assets into the region so that our client can have a business tool to conduct their business and go where they need to be and not just the long flight but within the region.
He noted that in the last one year alone, its “customer traffic has increased by 28 per cent in the African continent and 58 per cent in the west African region.”
With mid-to-large-cabin, ultra-long-range Bombardier Global and challenger business jets in its fleet, the firm described Nigeria as an important aviation market to explore.
Scalabrini however pointed out that Africa’s massive landscape and stringent regulatory policies are some of the challenges that have scared other private jet operators from the continent.
He added that VistaJet is offering an alternative to business clients who would have preferred to buy private jets to take advantage of its business model by purchasing a minimum of 50 hours over a period of time to save them personal operating costs.
“Our client can buy 50 hours annually for instance. What we do is that we simplify and make access to private aviation services as seamless as possible,” he said. “Nigeria is a very big aviation market and so we are providing an alternative to aircraft acquisition, a solution where someone can buy 100 hours for instance.”
On affordability of the firm’s services and its stand-out qualities, the president said, “our client can fly point to point and we provide much more efficient, consistent product offering.”
