Westair, the largest GA operator in Ireland, added a Hawker 125-700 to its expansive fleet tally in June. A second 125 will arrive in September; both will be available for charter. Westair's Brian Carpenter, chief pilot and managing director, talked to EBAN about the arrival of an aircraft type which he feels has yet to be superceded.

What's so good about the Hawker 125, we asked? "Everything, it's a robust aeroplane, it doesn't give a lot of trouble, people love the cabin, and if you need long legs, it's got long legs. There's nothing, in my book, in the modern aeroplane that goes anywhere near replacing it. OK, the cockpit may have been updated slightly, the switch to the cabin might have been updated, but at the end of the day, I don't think there has been such a leap that the 125 needs to be updated," Carpenter said. As an experienced Hawker pilot, he has flown the aircraft personally, as well been a passenger and evaluated from his customers' perspective.

"The first thing we operated here was a Corvette. Historically, we've had this, a Citation 500, Citation II, Citation III... We've gone through the whole spectrum of equipment. There's no doubt that for European charter, the 125-700 takes some beating," Carpenter stated.

The Hawker came to Ireland from Chicago, where it was similarly used for charter. It was formerly operated in the UK and in Switzerland, and went to the US on a 135 Certificate. The aircraft is configured with four forward club seats, one single chair on the starboard side facing forward and a three space couch. It also has an aft toilet and hanging closet, and a forward galley with heating ovens. "It's very vip," noted Carpenter.

The complete roster of aircraft owned at Westair comprises, one Gulfstream V, two Hawker 125s (with one further pending), one King Air 200, one MU2J, three Piper Aztecs, two Piper Tomahawks, one PA28 151, one Bell 222 and three Bell 206s.

"At the moment we have two Aztecs that we operate for a northern survey contract, and we have just bought another one which we bought from SFT Aviation in the UK. This is going to be used in our flight school and also for short range charter. They are what they are," Carpenter said of the Aztec aircraft.

It seems that diversifying operations has been central to Westair's operations for some time: "We operate a complete mixed bag, from a Piper Tomahawk to a GV and everything in between. We've just done a deal with Island Travel on the Isle of Man, we are taking their Navajo Chieftain onto our AOC.

"I think that has been the survival of the company. In Ireland, it's a very thin market, and we've gone the route of having the GV at the top of the scale. The 125 will fit under that, but then the sort of clients that we usually charter to on the executive jets are also very good clients for our Clipper II.

"One starts supplementing the other. As with most companies in a country with a small market like this, there isn't a tremendous amount of business to support any one area of it."

Business Aviation may be a small concern on the Emerald Isle, but economically, Ireland is currently on the up. EBAN asked Carpenter if this trend was impacting Westair's operations: "It is and it isn't. We certainly haven't noticed a massive expansion in the market. Traditionally, we had the first corporate jet in Ireland, so were market leaders then. "We also had the first corporate twin engine helicopter, in 1984. We tend to lead the pack slightly.

With all the new operators starting, I haven't noticed any of them bringing new business to the market. There are at least two or three start-ups in Dublin."

So far, the recently arrived Hawker 125 has been all over Europe on charter missions, and accumulated 55 hours from its first mission on June 6 to the end of the month.

To conclude, we asked how Westair, the largest operator in Ireland, are going to stay ahead of the competition: "I think it's more how they are going to catch up with us," chuckled Carpenter. "Because we are the only ones in this country that has their own JAR 145 maintenance facility. Because we have a new hangar for up to two GVs side by side, and another for the new 125. No one else has that."