The motivation of the Source Group Limited, a marketing group with an aviation base at Bournemouth Airport, in buying its Citation ISP encapsulates business aviation in its purest form. The group reached a point in its development where it considered setting up regional offices all over Europe. However, international clients “wanted the same marketing team to be dealing with them, whichever country we were operating in,” Don Wood, managing director, said. A business jet was the only answer.

The company also has a fleet of vintage military jets which it flies at air displays, and operates FBO facilities at Bournemouth. Of the Source Group’s business aircraft, Wood said: “We had an Hawker 125 from 1988 up until three years ago, when we replaced it with a Citation I SP. We have the club four seating plus the fifth barrel seat aft of the flight deck. We use it mostly as an executive transport, for visiting clients all around Europe.

“We reached a point in the company’s development where we though about opening offices up around Europe, but ended up buying the 125. It enabled our people to get into Paris in 45-50 minutes and it made the whole of Europe very much as if you were dealing with one country. It obviated the need and the overheads of having branch offices in each European capital.”

Vampires and Venoms are the vintage jets owned by the Source Group, all maintained at Bournemouth. The display aircraft are a commercial venture, but stem from personal interest by Wood in these veteran aircraft types. “We have had Venoms since 1984, when the Swiss Air Force disposed of them. We acquired them and put them on UK registration. They display at shows all around the UK.”

Wood’s fleet of carefully maintained classic jets participated in the celebrations for a number of anniversaries for the Vampire recently: It was the first jet to cross the Atlantic, and the Source Group’s aircraft celebrated the 50th anniversary of that event recently by flying in formation with a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747.

Also in formation were Jaguars from the same RAF squadron as flew the Vampire on the historic route in the late 1940s. “The Vampire was also the first jet to land and take off from an aircraft carrier, and we celebrated the 50th anniversary of that with a pair of Vampires that were put in Royal Naval livery of the original aircraft that did it,” Wood added.

“We have maintenance and the CAA approvals for [the vintage jets]. They need a certain amount of upkeep, it depends on the number of displays and hours you do. There were something like 3,000 Vampires built in their day; the Swiss operated their Vampires up until 1990, so we were able to acquire a number of spares from them.”

The Source Group owns an FBO “in a relatively small way,” according to Wood. With the Citation, plus a Cessna 310 for local runs within the UK, and until recently a Hughes 500 helicopter, the cost of third party hangarage and facilities was becoming too much to bare, so Wood decided to move these functions in-house. While not stating that his FBO was now turning a profit where formerly money was being spent outside the Group, he did say that it was certainly cheaper.

The Hughes helicopter was sold recently as it was getting less use.

The Citation is available for charter with European Executive Jet Limited. Wood reports that it sees about 350 hours per year of charter activities on top of the company’s own requirements.

“The problem with the Hawker 125 was that it had Viper engines. These were getting too noisy for a number of European airfields, and we were either getting fined or restricted in the hours we could fly. We are very happy with the Citation ISP. In the longer term we might change to a Citation II, something else with a longer range.

Wood says that buying a business jet was the correct decision for the company. “It has been instrumental in our ability to service multinational clients, with the same individuals looking after the account. There is much more pan-Euorpean marketing going in, and if the same individuals are working with the client in Paris or Milan or Madrid, that is where the benefits come.

“You just can’t get around so efficiently with airlines, you are looking at your watch wondering how you are going to get home at the end of a meeting. If you take a team of four or five people it is cost effective.”

The Source Group is currently marketing its existing site of hq complex, hangars and FBO at Bournemouth through agents London Clancy. Contact James Clay at London Clancy’s Southampton office, tel 02380 330 442.