Ireland’s Westair Aviation Limited has taken delivery of a two-year-old Hawker 800XP, bought direct from Raytheon for in excess of $10 million. “The aircraft’s already flown to Estonia, Italy, Spain and the UK.

It’s replacing an older aircraft we have in our fleet, a HS 125 3B which the company has operated for seven or eight years and is now selling,” said general manager Frank Moloney.

The aircraft joins a fleet (part managed, part owned) comprising a GV, Hawker 800XP, Hawker 700 and two Lear 60s, along with five Bell helicopters. “The 800XP carries eight passengers and has a club four forward, an armchair seat and a three-place divan.

“The cabin has DVD, AirShow entertainment system, satellite phone and fax. We also offer a hostess with all our flights and hot meals are available.

“There is an internal cabin door divide which means our clients can have their meetings in private away from the crew. This has proved to be very important when selling the aircraft because many of our clients are from the corporate world,” said Moloney.

The company cited forthcoming certification issues and fleet renewal as factors behind the purchase. “It is our policy to provide the best products available and I think our fleet reflects that in terms of modern, well-equipped aircraft.

“This XP has the latest hi-tech cockpit and it’s RVSM compliant with TCAS II and GPWS. These

are important because of the regulations, which will be coming in in a couple of years,” he added.

The aircraft is capable of non-stop travel to the East Coast of the US out of Shannon or Dublin, which has apparently been requested by some of Westair’s clients.

“The 800XP was available for charter as soon as it hit the ground in Shannon and hasn’t stopped flying since. It’s been extremely popular with our clients.

“The Irish charter market is quite buoyant at the moment, and I would say that certainly our Irish business has expanded considerably. Also the demand for our aircraft in the UK has risen,” said Moloney.