Flying Group, based at Antwerp Airport, recently ordered two Citation Bravos and a Citation Encore. As reported in last month’s EBAN, one Bravo will be available for charter, the other two Cessna aircraft will join the company’s co-ownership programme when they arrive in 2002. According to Ben Paindavin of the Flying Group, it is the largest purchase of Citations in Belgium ever.

The Group is made up of two companies, Flying Partners and Flying Service; the former is the company’s co-ownership division, the latter an air charter broker, operator and consultant, as well as a maintenance facility – but in this final role, the company is hamstrung by the fact that it is not an official Cessna service centre, or ever likely to be, due it believes to its proximity to Cessna’s Paris centre.

Said Paindavin: “We are doing all sorts of maintenance with the cooperation of Cessna, but there is a kind of company policy that there can be only one Citation facility in one region. It is not because we do not deliver the same service and give the same guarantees as a certified centre, it is just our position.”

The Flying Group has big plans involving operations outside Belgium. “We are looking for a partner in another country, first of all within 300km of Antwerp,” said Paindavin. “We have a good connection with someone in Madrid as well.

“During the board meeting two weeks ago, our president said that for 2002 he was aiming to have between 10 and 15 aeroplanes. That means that we have to leave Belgium – we cannot operate all those planes out of Belgium, we need a secondary and a tertiary home base. By 2001, there must be really concrete plans for these moves,” said Paindavin.

The Flying Group has two Citation IIs, a Citation III, a Cessna Conquest, a CitationJet and a Citation I. Currently, only the Citation II is available for charter, the rest of the fleet is involved in the co-ownership scheme. One Citation II and maybe a Citation I will be sold, the company says, when the new aircraft arrive. EBAN talked to Paindavin about this scheme, and about the charter brokering and consultation activities.

“We started five years ago with a formula based on the American system. They are a few years in advance of Europe regarding business flights. We have the Citation III, one Citation II and the Conquest in the programme. There will be a few co-owners who will change from the Citation II to the Bravo,” he said.

“Co-ownership will not take over from charter, in fact the fractional ownership side was here first with the Flying Group, as we took over an older operator. Before, people thought that business jets were for film stars. But it is not like that any more. For business flights, for those who cannot afford to own a private plane but need one, there is co-ownership. Even for individuals, it is usable: For instance we have a co-owner who is a vet specialising in horses, he is known all over Europe. He travels to race tracks, and is a co-owner in the Conquest, a turboprop that can get to these specific locations.

“The Flying Group is not limited to its own business jets, we are a charter broker also,” continued Paindavin. “When we have customers for the right number of passengers we can propose our business jets, but they are not always appropriate.” The company arranges all the flights for Anderlecht football club, said Paindavin by way of an example. The team, with associated physicians, trainers and other hangers-on, requires a Boeing 737, which the Flying Group hires from Sobelair, the charter wing of Sabena.

“The 737 is configured as usual for an airliner; there is some specific catering required, but it is not that we are looking for a BBJ or something. For other customers of course, there are sometimes more specifications. When we fly with Gulfstreams, for instance, we maintain a very vip flight.

“If you have an air transport problem with passengers or cargo, we can find the right aeroplane for your budget and for your destination. If we can propose one of our own jets, we will.

“However, when we sub-let aircraft, we have the same conditions and prices as if the client had gone to the aircraft operator direct. Anderlect FC could go direct to Sobelair, but they don’t do that, because they will get the same price from us, we add a lot of service, catering, departure, authorisations, and there is always someone from Flying Service who can check things are ok,” he said.

In terms of the aircraft operators, although they get paid less for each aircraft leased, it is a bulk discount, according to Paindavin, because they rely on the broker to market the air charter service.

Flying Service also provide aircraft for governments; a recent mission was the organisation of a trade mission from the Embassy of the Dominican Republic throughout Africa. A Challenger 604, Gulfstream IV, Learjet 55, Falcon 2000 and Falcon 50 were proposed for the mission: The tri-jet 50 was chosen, and flew the economic and diplomatic task force from Le Bourget through Libreville, Yaoundé, Cotonou, Cairo and Nairobi.

“There were a lot of rules involving the security of the people on board,” reports Paindavin. “We had to be able to locate the aeroplane at any time and know the exact time, altitude and place that country borders would be crossed.

“Diplomatic clients like embassies are obviously very keen on privacy and a certain standard of comfort, but security take priority in government flights. We do what we are good at, organising the flights, and the governments bring their own security personnel.”