Royal Jet, the GCC business aviation pioneer and international luxury executive flight services provider, has launched the Middle East’s most cost-effective Learjet service in a move to broaden private charter appeal within the region.
Using its newly-acquired, twin-engined Learjet 35s, the Abu Dhabi-headquartered operator has pitched chartering rates for the six-seater aircraft around 20 per cent below market rates. Royal Jet’s Learjet 35s can now be chartered from only $2,850 an hour.
“This is a tactical move to demonstrate the affordability of private charter when, for instance, point-to-point, day return private travel from the UAE to Kuwait can be achieved for $10,000 for six people,” said Shane O’Hare, president and CEO, Royal Jet.
“We are convinced that once new clients sample the Royal Jet service of bespoke travel delivering luxury, privacy, time-sensitivity and cost-effectiveness, they will be persuaded of the ‘aviation-on-demand’ proposition. This is an opportunity for corporates and indi-viduals to gain entry-level experience of the many benefits of private jet travel.”
The Learjet 35s are the latest aircraft to join Royal Jet’s expanding fleet and will focus on intra-regional travel.
“This aircraft is one of the fastest in its class and enables time-pressed executives to undertake business meetings throughout the region at their own schedules. It would, for instance, be perfectly feasible to fly to meetings in say from Abu Dhabi to Manama, Riyadh or Kuwait and returning back in a single day, which cannot be achieved with schedules services,” explained O’Hare. “Clients also have the advantage of checking in at VIP terminals avoiding airport and aircraft procedures.”
Royal Jet aircraft can be booked and ready to leave within two hours of a client’s request, dependent on air traffic control clearance.
The Learjet 35 acquisitions are the second fleet enhancement by Royal Jet within a month. In August, the company added its fifth Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) to its expanding fleet making it the world’s largest commercial BBJ operator.
Royal Jet has posted a record performance for the first eight months of this year. Year-on-year the number of aircraft served at Royal Jet's Fixed Base Operation terminal in Abu Dhabi grew by 90 per cent. In addition, 32 new charter customers were signed up in the year to July 2007.
In June this year, Royal Jet achieved record monthly revenue amounting to a 23 per cent year-on-year increase.