After a two-year break from ownership, charter broker City Jet has purchased a Citation 500 from Avanti Air. Ernst Strobl, managing director of the Austrian-based company, told EBAN: “We chose this aircraft because it was ideal for our particular situation. It was Austrian-registered and it also needed to be refurbished, so we got it at a very good price due to the weak economic situation of the seller.

“The Citation is a 1976 model and it was refurbished in January to look brand new. It’s a state of the art interior, much like a Lear 31A, with a six plus one configuration. The only disadvantage is that currently we are still waiting to install the RVSM, although this will be done within the next month.”

More recently, City Jet has focussed on charter brokering for its clients: “The company kept its clientele during these two years. We used the aircraft on the market as if they were ours by brokering and this worked nicely as we can now offer this clientele our new aircraft,” explained Strobl. Prior to this hiatus, City Jet owned several aircraft: “The reason for this was a very special situation. We had very good offers for our aircraft, the last one being a Falcon 20 which needed its engines replaced. Instead, we decided to sell it for a very good price in mid-1999. Once the price of the dollar had risen, we then had a waiting period to find the right situation at the right price and this happened in December of last year when we decided to go for the Citation 500.”

Compared with other charter brokers, City Jet now finds its self in the enviable position of having sold high and bought low. Strobel admitted: “It was lucky and as always with stocks and shares you have to be fortunate.” As well as the refurbishment, the aircraft has also been repainted: ”The range is under 1,500 nautical miles, so we are covering Europe well, whilst still brokering other aircraft intensely. We offer Citation I, II and IIIs, Lear 55s and Falcon 900s. We are performing well on the charter market, even with the mixed operation of aircraft ownership and brokerage. We would have gone for a Citation II or another aircraft, but this opportunity came up and it was an excellent proposition.”

City Jet’s market is predominantly Austrian-based, although Strobl said that around five to ten per cent of its business comes from outside the country. Charterers include private individuals, businesses, major Austrian industrial companies and authorities. “Since January the market has picked up a little, I’d say by around eight or nine percent. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about the situation as others have been since September 11. Demand for the Citation 500 is good here in Austria and it is competing well with other Citation jets here on the market. In its first moth we are already looking at 25 hours and this is a traditionally slow month. It charters at around 1,600 euros an hour plus landing fees,” he said.