Xclusive Jet Charter has started up at Bournemouth International Airport, making it the airport’s only executive charter company.

The company was set up by md Steve Loveridge along with a colleague and offers a Citation 500 as its first aircraft. “We obtained a new JAR-OPS 1 AOC, which was issued within thirty days of the date of application. That in itself is very quick, and I believe shows that the CAA thinks we know what we’re doing,” said Loveridge.

The aircraft is owned by a Bournemouth-based businessman who Loveridge has known for many years. “The aircraft was made available to us under our name, for the owner to achieve some income. We were able to put an operation around it and now have a joint management arrangement, whereby the owner does his own thing and we also co-ordinate things for him,” said Loveridge.

The 500 is based in hangars belonging to the aircraft’s owner at a private facility at Bournemouth Airport. The facility plays host to a maintenance organisation, along with Xclusive’s office.

“Bournemouth is becoming more popular as a business aviation airport. In the past, it has been a

bit of a backwater due to its prox-imity to London. But there are an awful lot of large businesses based locally and it’s a very wealthy part of the UK,” he said.

Although the company has yet to conduct its first commercial flight, Loveridge added: “We are quoting rigorously and we’ve just concluded our pilot training. The company’s ready to start flying, but the market at the moment is fairly quiet.

“Obviously we’ve set it up with a known customer base and known contacts, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to do it. There’s business there so we decided to put our money where our mouth is.”

Commenting on future plans, he said: “We’re now seeking to enhance the fleet, whether it be through management of private or commercially available aircraft. They don’t necessarily have to be jets, although that would be ideal.”