Brandenburger Flugdienst has a new CJ1, which will be used for both vip and ambulance flights. Spokesman Claus Brueckner told EBAN: “We already own some CitationJets and we’re very happy with them. The maintenance costs are good, customer satisfaction is good and fuel consumption is good. We also own a Lear 60 and expect to acquire a GIV next year.”

Brandenburger Flugdienst also operates a smattering of Beech air-craft and a Cheyenne IIIA. Brueckner says the company plumped for a jet aircraft this time around because customers tend to feel safer in jets. He said: “Of course, it’s only the feeling they have. It’s not really true. People also like jets because they feel more important and they are assumed by other people, to be rich.”

The company says the split between vip and ambulance flights is about 60/40. It takes 45 minutes to convert the CitationJet into ambu-lance configuration and the aircraft is able to carry one patient, one medical assistant and all relevant equipment.

Whether flying vip or medevac, Brandenburger Flugdienst says it covers every inch of Europe from Spain to Russia. Customers for Its corporate flights come most often from the worlds of telecoms and politics, and the company has flown each of Germany’s main political parties including the SPD, CDU and Green Party.

In the light of recent terrorist events in the US, we asked Brueckner if he believes business aviation is generally safer than commercial aviation. He said: “I think our company procedures are very safe. We have so many difficult company checks and regulations to adhere to, I think we are safer than the big airlines.

“In addition, we are quite familiar with our customers and that makes it easier to go through procedures with them. They accept them better from us than from a bigger airline.”

Although the charter market has not been particularly active of late, Brueckner says that is quite normal at this time of year.