At the recent Farnborough International Air Show, usually abuzz with the latest in jet envy, market experts were instead agreeing that the U.S. demand for business jets has softened considerably. And some companies are pulling the plug on private jet travel unless the circumstances truly justify it. Supposedly due to the current economic downturn and not a response to surging fuel costs, the decrease in U.S. demand for corporate jets is in stark contrast to burgeoning sales in Russia and the Middle East, whose new moguls are shelling out between $3 and $40 million for aircraft ordered at the air show.
It's not that execs are flying commercial -- the rough equivalent of trading in your Lamborghini for a used minivan full of crying babies -- but they are chartering flights instead of buying their own wings. Business jetsetters are turning more frequently to NetJets fractional ownership or a Marquis jet card, a kind of jet use debit card. Not exactly the Greyhound of the skies just yet, a Marquis jet card starts at $126,900 for 25 hours of flight time. And you won't have the joy of pimping out your cabin like that renowned Airbus A380, whose on-board hot tub and "desert oasis" tacked on an additional $150 million to the aircraft's pricetag.
Despite the glum economy another new manufacturer has announced plans to enter the Very Light Jet market. The Stratos Aircraft is based out of Bend, Oregon. Its Stratos 714 will fill be able to transport four people and their baggage 1,500 nautical miles, at a speed of 400 knots.
The composite-bodied aircraft will be powered by a centerline-thrust FADEC-controlled Williams FJ44-3AP turbofan which produces 3,030 pounds of thrust at sea level. The company's goal is to create an aircraft that is affordable to own and operate. The company is planning a 2010 production date.
The Jet by Cirrus Design, now officially named "The Vision SJ50" is a luxurious small aircraft is designed to be flown by a single pilot. The Cirrus Vision hopes to blend the best of both the high performance single-engine class and the very light jet category. The plane is powered by a Williams International FJ33-4A-19 engine and will fly at about 300 knots at a maximum operating altitude of 25,000 feet.
The body is spherical to allow for more interior space and it has moveable seats to accommodate up to seven people. The plane has a unique V-Tail design and state-of-the-art advanced avionics and flight systems plus the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. The Cirrus Vision SJ50 had its first flight last week (Aero News Network has a report of the event with action photos). The 45-minute flight was conducted from company worldwide headquarters at the Duluth International Airport, Duluth, MN.
A new private jet brokerage based in Aspen hopes to make flying in and out of the resort town and other places a little easier. Evojets act as an agent, representing its client's interests by marketing their flight requests to over 2,500 operators who then compete to win their business. Right now the service is invitation or referral only and is works primarily with Aspen's wealthy population.
In an article in the Aspen Daily News, Evojets' director of operations Christopher Kelly says that he knows this idea wouldn't work in every market but in Aspen where people use private jets all the time, the chance to save as much as 50% on a flight is welcome. Like other jet brokerage we've seen, Evojets helps fill seats on the empty plane legs when a plane is returning to its home airport or flying in to pick up passengers. Because the plane might have flown without passengers anyway, the rates can also be cheaper. Evojets gets paid a percentage of the difference between the market price for the flight and what their clients end up paying.
Evojets plans to focus on more than just Apsen, their other main hubs are New York, south Florida, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago and Scottsdale, Arizona.
The three business-class-only airlines that flew out of the U.K. to New York (MaxJet, Eos and Silverjet) are all now history but the last outlier, Paris-based L'Avion is still around. For now. British Airways has snapped up the French all-business airline l'Avion for 54 million pounds ($107 million). The privately owned airline flies two Boeing 757 aircraft with 90 seats each between Paris and New York.
Once the deal is done, l'Avion will become a subsidiary of British airways and become part of Open Skies, their transatlantic airline. Open Skies operates with its own crew and pilots (there is only one aircraft so far). Open Skies planes have 24 seats that convert into beds, 28 in premium economy and 30 in economy making it closer to the l'Avion model than traditional British Airways flights.
Marketwatch speculates that it may be possible that l'Avion, like the other business-class airlines was hardly a moneymaker and may have never turned a profit.
The celebrities who espouse a green lifestyle often find themselves in trouble when they indulge in some of the privileges of the wealthy. Al Gore has taken the heat for his energy consumption and now Sting is in the spotlight for a private jet splurge. Sting took a solo flight to Germany recently on a Falcon 2000 to meet the rest of the band, The Police for a concert in Leipzig. A spokesperson for the airport confirmed that he was the solo passenger on the plane which can carry 14 passengers. He flew back to England less than 24 hours later via private jet but it's not known if he was alone. According to the Daily Mail, the Police was named 'dirtiest band' in January for the scale of their carbon footprint. It's been a tough year for Sting and his eco-actions. He started off the year by renting a private yacht in Australia and as I mentioned back in May, his Rainforest Foundation has come under fire for its record of giving. Sting also starred in an ad-campaign for the notso eco Jaguar cars.
The Sunday Times reports that the Queen of England is in the market for a new plane. No Air-Force-One-sized jet for the Queen though, word from Buckingham Palace is that they are in the market for a small executive plane like a Gulfstream or Learjet. The plane would also be available for use by Gordon Brown and senior ministers.
The plane w ould be paid for by taxpayers and would include the usual private plane bells and whistles such as catering facilities and in-flight entertainment. The Queen had previously been able to use larger planes provided by the RAF. Also in the past, Prince Charles and other royals have chartered planes or flown first class for their royal tours, which they will still have to do for longer trips. The new plane will be best for short jaunts. The prime minister opted against a larger plane for himself and the royals because of the price. A decision on the type of plan and specific purchase details probably won't be available until later this year.
What's particularly interesting about the comments section of the article is that many of those who wrote in believe the Queen (and to some extent Gordon Brown) should have a bigger plane.
Air taxi service Linear Air has announced the launch of its Eclipse E500 flight service in the greater New York City area. The company's aircraft are based at the White Plains/Westchester County Airport in New York, but will be servicing major and regional airports throughout the tri-state region as well as the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Linear Air serves 10 times more airports than the traditional commercial airlines serve. The Eclipse 500 is a very light jet which only holds a few passengers so to take your whole entourage to Cape Cod for the weekend you'll need to opt for their eight-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan turboprop. . In order to price out an book flights you need to become a member of Linear Air's service.
For the big purchases in life sometimes it's easier to share the burden. In the escalating real estate market, many people opted to go in on houses together. Now there is a new service helping potential plane owners defray the high cost of aircraft ownership by partnering up. The Aircraft Partnership Association is a new website designed to make sharing aircraft ownership easier.
The site not only helps people find potential partners but also helps them work out the details such as financing, insurance and legal and tax issues. The Aircraft Partnership Association also has goods and services supplier members who help about the partner members. The site will also help with ooperating the partnership, providing online management services for scheduling flights and maintenance and bookkeeping.
Annual membership dues will be $29 but during the initial building phase they've chopped that down to $9.99.
Wealthy socialites in London love to party just as much as those here in the U.S., but now it seems they've found a way to step things up by getting around that pesky "closing time" obstacle: they hop into a private jet and fly to a different time zone. What makes this interesting is that they aren't hopping into their own personal private jets, they're "jet-pooling" in planes operated by The Private Jet Club that are coordinated through Whisky Mist, a new club at Hilton's Zeta bar.
Even if they're continuing to party on the planes I can hardly imagine still being up for more by the time the plane lands in New York or Rio (the most popular destinations), but then I'm not a wealthy socialite with nothing else to do but fly around the world looking for a good time!
Getting your own plane is a pretty fantastic purchase but what if you could have one for only $139,000. The Icon A5 is a two-seater sport plane that is an amphibious, retractable and fold-able aircraft with the ability to be towed on a trailer behind your car! It even comes with a plane-sized parachute to help ease the landing in an emergency situation. Small enough for a pair to fly and compact enough to keep in an oversized driveway, the Icon A5 will be a welcome creation come 2010 when its available.
Looks like those reports of Silverjet's resurgence were a false alarm. The Telegraph spoke with chief executive Lawrence Hunt who said the business-class-only airline is permanently grounded. There had been hopes that the company Kingplace would be able to bail out Silverjet but they were not able to raise sufficient cash to meet the capital requirements from the Civil Aviation Authority. After that we heard that Middle East carrier Arabjet might take over but Hunt calls them "timewasters" who were not even able to " raise the £125,000 needed to secure negotiations with the administrators." It looks like Silverjet will not be sold off as a going concern but will likely be dismantled with the assets sold off piece by piece.
Japan Airlines (JAL) has created a new suite for JAL first class and a new seat for their business class which they will be introducing on US routes. The airline will launch the JAL Suite in first class and the JAL Shell Flat Neo Seat in business class when the airline introduces new 777-300ER aircraft on US routes, starting with the Tokyo - New York route on August 1, 2008.
The suitse in JAL First Class are 20% more spacious than the airline's current seat in first class and only suites are available in the JAL First Class cabin set in a 1-2-1 configuration. The suite includes a seat upholstered in gray leather which converts into a full-flat bed. In the 180° position the seat combines with an ottoman located at the opposite end of the compartment to create one of the largest and widest, most comfortable sleeping areas in first class. When the seat is in the upright position, the ottoman can be used as a seat for a guest. The sliding table can be placed between the seat and ottoman. Passengers, seated in the pair of suites who are traveling together can lower privacy partitions located between them. Each suite comes with Bose noise-cancelling headphones and a personal 19-inch personal TV screen and stowage spaces for bags and small items and a laptop power point. Those in the suites can also whatever they like off the menu whenever they would like with choices of Japanese or Western full-course menus. For sleeping a cabin attendant can place a Tempur-Pedic mattress on the seat bed along with a down comforter and a pillow a well as offer special JAL loungewear.
The new business class seat reclines to 171 degrees and has a 15.4 inch personal TV screen. The business class cabin also features the "Sky Gallery," one wall of the cabin shows a a photographic exhibition that will be regularly changed over the year. The first exhibit, in collaboration with Fuji Film, will be a series of photographs of forests in Japan entitled 'Forest Forever'. The gallery will be located directly opposite a self-service bar counter, where passengers can enjoy snacks and beverages at anytime.
A spot of bad news for the Eclipse 500. The FAA has recommended inspection of the throttles on the small jets after one made an emergency landing in Chicago last week. The National Transportation Safety Board has said that there is the need for an emergency procedure for dual engine control failure. So far around 200 of the popular private jets have been delivered. The one that landed in Chicago had only 238 flight hours. The Eclipse 500 is the basis of a number of fledgling airtaxi services so this first hint of trouble has been received with some amount of worry by industry watchers.
Talk about bizarre, Lamborghini recently enlisted the help of the Italian military (don't they have anything better to do?) to fly one of their rare and uber-expensive Lamborghini Reventon cars over the town of Turin and land it on the roof of the Lingotto building, where they were having a conference titled "Lamborghini and speed, a project in record time." And record money too I bet.
The only explanation Lamborghini gave to curious onlookers was "all 20 units (of the Reventon) have been sold worldwide." I guess that since they were each priced at over $1.5 million that is a big deal, but who came up with this idea?
