Italy’s Eurofly Service is now operating its third Falcon 2000. Alberto Nathansohn, general manager for the Torino-based company, said: “At the moment

the owner is using it a great deal,

but I’m sure that it will be available for charter some time in the

medium-term future (hopefully by early next year).”

The 2000 belongs to an existing customer, for whom the company already operates a Falcon 20.

The aircraft was delivered brand new and is the first 2000 to be taken under management by Eurofly. “We own two other Falcons, which are available for charter all year round. It’s the ideal aircraft to operate and ideally we would like to add more to the fleet – in fact, we may be doing so in the future,” said Nathansohn.

Since its delivery, the owner has mainly been flying around Europe. “Our other 2000s fly intercontinental so I imagine when we start chartering this latest one, it will follow the same route as the others. They fly mainly within Europe, with one or two longer-range trips a month.

“There are a variety of customers who charter the 2000. Some work in industry or finance in Italy and surrounding countries, while others work in entertainment or are private individuals. The kind of people who need a wide-cabin aircraft will either ask for this, the Challenger or the Falcon 900. However, the market’s been very good for our current 2000s,” said Nathansohn.

Speaking more generally about the market, he added: “We’ve noticed a significant difference between the wide-cabin aircraft (which have held a fairly stable demand) and the smaller cabin aircraft, for which there’s been a significant decrease

in activity. Overall though our company is doing better than in previous years and I think this is almost entirely down to the fact that we’ve acquired new customers.

“We’ve experienced an increase

in our market share, rather than

there being an increase in the market as a whole.”

The company believes that these new customers were existing charterers, who have been won over from the competition. “Eurofly has been investing heavily in making more people aware of our service and improving it (in terms of the type

of aircraft we offer and the quality of our crew),” he said.

The fleet currently contains 14 aircraft, six of which the company owns (a Falcon 900EX, two Falcon 2000s, a Falcon 50 and two Falcon 20s). The eight managed aircraft include a Falcon 900A, a Falcon 20, a Challenger 601, a Lear 35 and 45, two Beech 400s and the 2000.

“I believe that all of those who use our aircraft are using them as a business tool, rather than a status symbol. There are some companies with a history of chartering who have evolved to larger aircraft, for convenience and comfort. It’s these customers who have proved more reliable in crises situations, because they continue to use business aircraft.

“Those who haven’t been chartering for long have either reverted to flying commercial or are staying at home and not travelling as much. In fact, most of our existing clients have been flying less this year, so our increase in business can be entirely put down to the addition of new customers,” he added.