Air Charter Scotland has added a first jet to its AOC, to complement its fleet of Cessna 310s, 402s and 404s. Md George Gilson said: “We have a variety of aircraft to suit our customers’ needs, but we just didn’t have a jet for the top end of the market. At the moment it’s been carrying out ad-hoc vip charters, as well as flying surgeons around for operations involving donor organs.”

The company has been operating for around 12 years and says it has built up a strong customer base. “We cater for a variety of people here in Scotland, from helping make road reports for radio stations to air medical flights. Our business does not all necessarily come from Scotland either – we’re well known to a number of brokers and have a good customer base in the north of England,” said Gilson. The aircraft will be based at Edinburgh Airport. “There’s a general aviation area at the airport which is completely separate from the main terminal, so logistically it’s very easy to move in and out. Similarly at Glasgow, where we have a base, GA is very well catered for,” he said.

Gilson took over Air Charter Scotland around two years ago and owns all of its fleet, aside from the CJ1. “Although I can’t go into details about the agreement, we made the decision to lease so that we could offer a spectrum of services throughout our fleet. We thought a jet would be popular, so we went for it and being leased on an hourly basis benefits both parties,” he added.