Three years ago, PrivatAir of Geneva, Switzerland ordered two BBJs. The first of these arrived this week, in time for the company's tour of Europe and the Middle East. The second one will follow sharply on its tail and a third, bought in December just past, will replace the company's existing 737. \rWith a 757 to hand as well, PrivatAir's fleet is beginning to resemble a Boeing catalogue. James Hay, commercial director, talked to EBAN about the operations and ambitions of the only commercial airline in the world to have bought BBJs. Having already flown world icons, such as the Rolling Stones, around the globe, it came as no surprise when European and English football champions Manchester United booked PrivatAir's 757 for the return leg of their World Club Championship visit to Rio de Janeiro.\rHay said: "I think what people don't realise is that once you get a group together, let's say 25 people, then its actually cheaper than business class. With Manchester United's 50 people, it was significantly cheaper for them than to fly scheduled.\r"Unfortunately, we couldn't fly them over there because we had another job. I believe they flew out on a scheduled flight." Manchester United were apparently very complimentary about the trip, saying that it was the best trip they'd ever had. Indeed, the often quite reticent Alex Ferguson, manager, said: "Flying with PrivatAir was one of the most enjoyable and relaxing trips home we have ever experienced."\rSo how come business aviation and the sports market haven't yet formed a closer relationship in Europe? Hay said: "It's a tough market to crack. I remember one occasion when it would have cost Leeds United £52,000 to fly to their destination with us and just £4,000 less to fly on one of the BAC I-IIs.\r"They needed two tech stops on the way and it was a 30-year old aircraft and stage II. For four thousand pounds, they decided to go on the BAC I-II rather than fly directly with us on what is a different class of aeroplane altogether." Hay believes that football competitions like the World Club Championships are made for business aviation because of the long distances that are involved. The point being that it is easier to persuade clubs to choose this option because the economics become self-evident.\rHe continued: "Conversely, if a team wants to fly out to Munich one day and fly back the next, you're looking at a lot more availability of normal charter planes that can do it. They don't need ETOPS and gadgets like that. So, they'd be inclined to put them on a Monarch 757 and just sit with a seat between them.\r"The bottom line with football clubs is that even though they're paying the players more per week than it would cost to charter our plane to fly the whole team out to Munich, if we are 10,000 pounds more expensive, that's not going to help them to make money. I understand it to a point." \rLonger-term, it is Hay's opinion that clubs like Juventus, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Arsenal will probably start flying like some of the rich sports clubs already do in the States, for example NBA Air. He said: "Once they get to know the product, I'm convinced it will come. When the president of Real Madrid saw that Manchester United were flying our plane to Rio, he said 'right, that's it, this is how we fly from now on.' So once the big teams start doing it, then I reckon it will catch on."\rPrivatAir's BBJ tour commences March 15. It is a joint tour with manufacturers Boeing, and will take them both through Europe, the Middle East and across the States. Hay describes it as the perfect opportunity to show off the plane to those who are interested. "Everyone will be able to see just what a BBJ is all about."\rThis particular BBJ, the first to arrive at PrivatAir headquarters, is a 28-seater, with tables and couches arranged in classic vip configuration up front. It then has 20 first class seats in the next two sections and has a bedroom at the back. Naturally, it boasts all the latest inflight entertainment, housing as it does 'more toys than you can imagine'. Because of the baggage space needed for 28 passengers, it has just five tanks, giving it a range of 5,200nm.\rPrivatAir's second BBJ is a 16-seater and falls into the category of 'real vvip stuff'. It is equipped with the maximum range, 6,200nm, and has three vip sections, three couches, tables etc, the usual inflight gadgets and then a bedroom/bathroom.\rWith 46 seats, PrivatAir's third BBJ will be used to replace the company's existing 737 and will be of the same configuration. "Furthermore," says Hay, "it gives us the added benefit of 180 minutes ETOPS. It only has three tanks because of the baggage issue, but it means we can fly across the Atlantic nonstop and to Dubai nonstop."\rSo what uses does PrivatAir envisage for this particular BBJ? "We've got a big American customer for the 737, which currently carries out upmarket tours of Africa and Europe. Within the present set-up, they fly their customers across business class to Geneva, pick up the 737 and then go from here. \r"Now, with the BBJ, we'll be able to pick them up either in Miami or Newark, and then do the whole trip in one plane. So it's a major added benefit to us, the BBJ over the 737."\rHay believes that, despite their differences, there will be a certain amount of crossing over markets between the 28- and the 16-seater BBJ. "The 28-seater will cater for our biggest market, which is for heads of state. They can't afford the economics of owning a plane to fly 200 hours a year. Indeed, it's cheaper to get PrivatAir to dress it up for you - depending on the country you are representing - like it's your own plane. So you get the president of France for instance and his ministers and advisors in the two sections at the back.\r"But equally the 16-seater is perfect for foreign ministers, finance ministers, guys who have got less of an entourage." When dressing up aircraft, PrivatAir says it has a tried and tested method of pleasing the customer. Hay said: "It's really simple and effective. At the moment, we're in the Caribbean and nobody would know it's a PrivatAir plane except for the squares on the engine. The person travelling has his country's national flag on the tail, and beside the door is his own emblem.\r"We don't have PrivatAir written on the side of any of our planes, we think it looks better without."\rHay's argument is that, for the price of chartering an aircraft several times a year, you can have yourself your very own presidential plane. The alternative, he said, "is to pay for a 757 or a BBJ to be lying on the ground for most of the year". Most of PrivatAir's business comes through national airlines. After all, when a company's president says he wants one of their planes for a 10-day trip to China, the national airline is in no hurry to provide it. For one, said Hay, it throws its schedule into disarray and secondly, it means reconfiguring the front of the aircraft for vip purposes. Said Hay: "If you add the 10 days plus the time out to reconfigure the aircraft and the time at the end to 'unconfigure' it, then it's expensive." PrivatAir has recently reached a very enviable commercial position: It has stopped marketing its aircraft to different governments because it already has enough business. \rHay said: "We'll need more now with the BBJs but in Europe, countries that we haven't even touched include Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Poland and Hungary. We haven't gone near these countries because we don't want to make promises we can't keep.\r"I would say that we've got a core of about eight governments that use us on a regular basis; and on top of the Middle East customers, who play a big part, and people like the Rolling Stones and Manchester United, we have noticed that the area of film crews is one that seems to be developing. For example, we flew the last James Bond movie crew and cast to a number of different locations.\rHow, then, does a charter company cater for the needs of the rich, the famous and presumably, the very fussy. Hay said: "With the Rolling Stones, we found out that Ronnie Wood likes Guiness so we carry Guiness. We also go out and find Guiness glasses to put it in. \r"We know that they like curry, so we find the best curry shop in whatever location we are in, and we get the food from there. Our head of catering services is extremely good at the local culture, local cuisine, and finding out exactly what the passengers do and don't like, in terms of food and drink.\r"I think the best compliment we ever had, came when we carried a group of Japanese bankers around Europe on one of these financial roadshows. They actually stayed onboard the plane to have dinner, rather than get off. They said It was the best Japanese food that they've ever had outside Japan."\r"Our head of catering resources his food very well, which is rather difficult when you fly to as many places as we do. Buenos Aires one day, Shanghai the next, but he does an amazing job." \rPrivatAir's next plans, by way of additional facilities, is to build a new Air Park in Geneva - comprising a vip terminal and office building. At present, the company is located off the airport. \rHay said: "We're in the final stages. The planning permission has been approved, it's now the ops manual which is being finalised because customs and immigration will be there and we need an ops manual of how the whole thing works. It should be started by the summer and completed within one year of that."\rFinally, EBAN spoke to PrivatAir's commercial director about the likely future for charter companies such as theirs, in Europe. Hay said: "Once we've built the Air Park and all our BBJs are flying, the path for expansion at PrivatAir is really limited to the market that we can develop. \r"I always feel like we're at the sharp end where we're developing a market that currently does not exist.\r"We're a European company, right in the heart of Europe, and still less than 30 per cent of our business is European." It's difficult to disagree with James Hay when he says: "This just shows the difference in acceptance of this type of travel, from one continent to the next."