Smaller Business Jets are a boon for europe's air charter market, says LEA
The current recession means that the jury is still out on whether the vaunted ‘Air Taxi’ business model will ever come to fruition, especially in Europe. In the meantime, however, the Citation Mustang is making a positive contribution to conventional air chartering, offering low-cost travel that ensures the industry remains relevant despite the weak economy.  This was the message of London Executive Aviation’s chief executive Patrick Margetson-Rushmore as he addressed today’s ‘Corporate, Air Taxi and Personal Jet’ conference at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.
“In recent years we’ve seen some very innovative new players announce their entry into the market, with pure Air Taxi operators prominent amongst them. I would argue that they’ve done a lot of good in raising the industry’s profile and educating the market that business jets can also be good value. However, a lot has happened recently to challenge the ambitions of Air Taxis to revolutionize business aviation,” he told delegates. “We’ve witnessed the probable demise of Eclipse, a principal enabler for the model, as well as a nasty recession. In addition, we at LEA are skeptical that the high aircraft utilization aimed for by Air Taxis can actually be achieved. I would like to be proved wrong, but our experience to date makes me doubt it.”

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