NetJets Europe has launched one-sixteenth fractional ownership shares on its Hawker 800XP aircraft. This means that customers can now purchase as little as 37.5 hours per year on the aircraft.

EBAN spoke to Graham Deary, sales and marketing manager for NetJets Europe, about the sort of customers he expects to attract (indeed, is attracting) with the low utilisation deal, and the sort of deal that these customers can expect.

"It means that for 37.5 hours a year, people can come and get the full benefit of NetJets. We have had an incredible amount of success: We have already signed four or five people on the one sixteenth share."

What type of flyer buys these small slots, we asked. "A combination of entrepreneurs, who are buying it for their business and just testing the programme out. 70 per cent, maybe even more of our clients have never owned or even chartered before, so it is a big step for them to come into an ownership programme. A sixteenth is very attractive to test it out and see if they like it," Deary said. One customer has moved up from a sixteenth into a larger share, he reported. "It depends on the individual," Deary went on. "A lot of charter operators are still selling blocks of 100 hours, which is really fractional ownership territory. It's down to the individual, at what sort of level they feel comfortable and safe.

"A sixteenth could take away some of charter's customers," he speculated. "One of the great things about the programme, however, is the way we're marketing it. Most are people who have never considered using business aviation before, but have relied on scheduled services. These guys are not charter customers, I am not convinced that fractional ownership will have any significant impact on the charter market.

"What the sixteenth share does is fuel people who will potentially go for a larger share: It's a catchment for getting those in earlier rather than later," he said.

Deary went on to talk about new aircraft models for NetJets Europe. As reported in May's EBAN, the first of ten of the widebody business jets ordered has arrived in the UK: the remainder will be phased in until 2002. "The Falcon 2000 is just an amazing aircraft," Deary enthused, "it is going particularly well. We are looking very shortly at a new entry level aircraft.

"It could be one of a selection: the Premier I, CJ2, Bravo, that sort of size. We don't want to go any smaller than the seven seater. The Premier, et al may be a bit small."

So, does NetJets harbour any plans for a thirty-second share, or is that just getting silly, EBAN wondered? "It's funny you should ask that, I was thinking that last night coming back on the train: Where does this stop?

"The issue with doing a sixteenth share, whether it is 50 hours in the States or 37.5 over here, is that you've got to have enough aircraft to do it. Otherwise, we could have quite easily launched a one sixteenth level of ownership at the start," Deary said. "However, that would have had a detrimental effect on service for the customers.

"With only a limited fleet, two or three aircraft for example, you can't guarantee availability for 16 customers on each, you would have an awful level of service. So, we now have twelve Hawkers and we are comfortable that we can support the sixteenth on them. When we get to a critical mass on the Falcon 2000, or other aircraft types, we will offer it there too.

"With the smaller aircraft we intend to take, we will take quite a few of those initially, so we might get into sixteenths on that side of the operation."

Meanwhile, NetJets Middle East has delayed delivery of two Gulfstream IVs which were due for delivery new from Gulfstream this summer. The aircraft were sold instead to other buyers.