Lauda Executive has witnessed the arrival of a brand new Lear 60 at its Viennese base. With this new addition to its fleet - which currently comprises an existing Lear 60 and Challenger 601 - Lauda Executive is laying claim to the title of 'Austrian market leader in executive charter services'. \rThe new aircraft was flown from the Learjet works in Tucson, Arizona to its new base in Vienna by Niki Lauda himself.\rLauda, who as a pilot is said to prefer the versatility of private charter routings to the fixed nature of a standard airline schedule, said: "I often fly for our Executive Division. For me, the Learjet 60 is the perfect aircraft. It's an ideal size, and its range enables it to fly continuously for six hours or more, making it an excellent partner for the Challenger. With these two aircraft we can meet all the needs of our Lauda Executive clients."\rEBAN asked Matthias Stöcher, head of Lauda's executive division, why the company opted for a second Learjet 60. Stöcher said: "It's simply because we are very satisfied with the one that we already have. We have customers who prefer the Lear 60 to, for example, the Citation III, and in fact to any other aircraft we have here in the region. \r"The range, the speed and the brand names of both Bombardier and the Lear are what makes it attractive."\rOne segment of Lauda Executive's business is comprised of private customers situated in Vienna who conduct meetings in locations such as Damascus and Cairo. In addition to its private, corporate customers, Lauda Executive has a key role in Austrian government missions. Stöcher said: "We are the main transporter for the Austrian government, flying them for example to board meetings of the European Community."\rWhen the company first took delivery of the Lear 60 at the beginning of February, one of its early missions was from Gander to Vienna non-stop. Stöcher said: "With pilots Niki Lauda and senior fleet operations manager captain H Kaar at the helm, the Lear 60 coped with the flight admirably."\rHe added: "As with all our customers, Niki Lauda is very pleased with the new exterior and interior.\r"We are going more in the direction of having fewer logos painted on the aircraft. We feel the more it looks like a private jet, the more customers renting the jet will feel like it's their own. This is a strategy that absolutely seems to work." \rAs to the near future, Stöcher explained to EBAN: "We have a project running, which involves a very big customer of ours and he is interested in buying his own aircraft - a Challenger 604.\r"Right now we are negotiating a contract to operate the aircraft for him on an exclusive basis, with operations starting in mid-May. We have already offered a nice proposal and I think it will come to fruition but we are still negotiating at present."\rWith a flight time of one hour 30 minutes in each direction, Lauda Executive's peak-time service from Vienna to Brussels and back (outward flight in the morning, return flight in the evening) costs ATS210,000 with the Challenger 601; and a peak-time flight from Vienna to Moscow and back with the Learjet 60 costs ATS195,000.