Eurojet Ireland is adding a Citation Excel to its charter fleet after an existing client purchased the aircraft brand new from manufacturers Cessna. Both arms of Eurojet’s operation (Eurojet Aviation and Eurojet Ireland) operate a uniform Cessna fleet. “This is the first Excel on the Irish register. It fills a gap in the Dublin charter market, which we feel we can exploit quite well,” said Mike Hollick, commercial and operations manager for Birmingham-based Eurojet Aviation.

Eurojet has been operating Citations for over ten years: “We have a good relationship with Cessna. The advantage of our situation is that crew training and licensing is made easier due to the all-Cessna fleet especially as we have our own maintenance organisation based in Gloucester,” said Hollick. “We currently operate three Citations from our Birmingham base - Citation I (which we own), Citation II and Bravo. Eurojet Ireland offers another Bravo and will be the base for the Excel.”

Hollick explained the reasons behind the choice of the new aircraft: “The owner currently has a Citation Bravo which we also operate for him, but this fits his business pattern more. It offers a better range, it’s faster and it has a stand up cabin (making longer trips more comfortable). He had the aircraft on order for the best part of a year and it’s now due for delivery. We will soon be picking it up from Wichita and transporting it over to Dublin, although at present there are still some unresolved issues regarding the certification.”

This won’t replace the owner’s Bravo but will instead run along side it. The aircraft has been ordered with one of the standard layout options, with a nine seat configuration. “This gives us an advantage as there aren’t many nine seaters about, and it will seat nine people very comfortably,” said Hollick, before explaining what kind of journeys he expects the Excel to make: “At the moment our market base is exclusively European but the Excel gives us the opportunity to go a bit further. We will probably be taking it to North Africa, the eastern end of the mediterranean, places where the Citation Bravo struggles to reach.”

Hollick gave a little background on how Eurojet’s two companies complement each other: “Running the two operations in parallel we mutually support each other, so we have the opportunity to market the aircraft to the UK and Irish market. Because of the interchange, we can utilise the aircraft to suit the demand requirements of each operation. We try and keep the operations as interchangeable as possible, so from a commercial point of view this gives us the most flexibility.

Ireland has experienced a great deal of economic growth over the last few years, which Hollick says has knocked on positively to the charter market: “There’s a lot of wealth in Ireland at the moment. The Dublin market has been very buoyant, partly due to the fact that there are a number of successful hi-tech businesses in Dublin. The last year has been a bit of a roller coaster, but the general trend has been positive.” Ireland’s acceptance of the Euro may also mean a competitive advantage on the European market: “We’re operating a dual currency operation with the pound and the euro, which gives us flexibility. But it will be interesting to see how the market develops with the euro over the coming year,” said Hollick.

The future also looks positive for the company as it intends to add to its management roster: “There are always things bubbling away. Another development we are pursuing is our helicopter operation in Dublin, where we should be taking on a Eurocopter 120 within the next month or so,” added Hollick. Eurojet Aviation currently has a Bell 407 on its AOC, which is actually based in Dublin.