VistaJet has signed a historic agreement with Beijing Airlines, the private aviation subsidiary of Air China, that it hopes will lead to a long-term partnership.

The memorandum of understanding will investigate joint marketing, sales and operational opportunities, and will see VistaJet establishing a formal presence in China with a base in Beijing and eventually operating point-to-point within China.

The MoU follows a significant increase in demand from Chinese entrepreneurs and businesses who have flown VistaJet internationally for the company to base aircraft within China.

Thomas Flohr, chairman, says: "We have been targeting China as a major market for expansion and our new partnership with Beijing Airlines will allow us to rapidly build a presence in this very fast growing market."

"As an entrepreneur, you cannot afford to spend up to three days flying commercially between Harbin and Khartoum. Nor are you going to want to fly on some of the airlines that will get you there.

"With our modern long-haul fleet, we are directly connecting locations such as east Asia with east Africa in up to a third of the time, and in style."

A future long-term partnership agreement could see VistaJet increase the number of aircraft available to service the Chinese market including locating a number of aircraft in the country, drawn from the company's large order backlog.

As part of its strategic expansion programme, VistaJet has identified priorities for further regional investment during 2012 including Russia, where VistaJet has established a major presence, and Africa.

Flohr concludes: "The agreement we have announced gives us a major platform to establish a leading presence on the ground and I look forward soon to declaring VistaJet as China's preferred luxury aviation company."