The UK’s Gold Air International, owned by millionaire entrepreneurs David and Ralph Gold, has become the European launch customer for Bombardier’s Lear 45XR. The first of five XRs will be delivered in April 2004, with the remaining four aircraft joining its fleet at three or four month intervals between mid-2004 and summer 2005.

Will Curtis, md of Gold Air International, said of the $60 million order: “The aircraft have helped us

to expand our operations and increase our market share. With its enhanced range and payload capabilities, the 45XR will give us greater capacity and flexibility.”

David Gold added: “This is a tough industry, but we’re very confident about the future of our company. We’re aiming to offer brand new self-owned aircraft – our current fleet has an average age of less than two years.”

These latest orders will join a fleet comprising five Lear 45s, a Hawker 800 and a CitationJet. “When adding these new aircraft we might let one or two of our other aircraft go. This should coincide with what I believe will be a strong pre-owned market for 45s in the US by 2005, due to RVSM coming in,” said Curtis.

Curtis agreed that Gold Air had timed its purchases to coincide with the weak sales market: “We’ve now overcome the considerable set-up costs needed to enter the market. This year we are expecting to be profitable – but it’s a marathon, not a sprint. At the moment it’s a very tight market but we’ve still

managed to increase our share, principally because we deal with people who are fairly recession-proof, such as celebrities.

“It’s the banking sector who have all but stopped chartering, causing peaks in periods which were traditionally troughs.”

Gold Air has also been benefiting from customers shifting over from fractional programmes. David Gold said: “The clever money is concluding that fractional ownership just doesn’t add up.”

Curtis added: “An increasing number of customers are coming to us from fractional programmes and buying block hours, which we offer at a discount.

“Our charter sales are now up to £10 million, with 50 per cent of our customers dealing with us direct. There is a 40 per cent year-on-year business rise and in January alone, sales were up 47 per cent on the same time last year. I don’t think we can sustain that growth rate though.”

Even the impending war with Iraq has not dampened Gold Air’s optimism. “I think the war will increase confidence in chartering. Eventually I think the aviation market will polarise solely towards business jets and budget airlines.

“Business class travel on scheduled airlines is yesterday’s concept,” said Curtis.

Gold Air has bases at Biggin Hill, Farnborough and Cambridge. “Cambridge is definitely the less

busy of the three bases, with the other two dealing with similar numbers of flights.

“In the future we would definitely like to expand operations into London City and possibly set up a base there,” said Curtis. This ties in well with the latest acquisitions as Bombardier has begun assessing the Lear 45XR for use at London City Airport with certification anticipated for spring 2004.

The 45 XR is an evolution of the Learjet 45, designed to deliver greater pay-load-range capabilities through a 1,000-pound increase in maximum takeoff weight and enhanced engine performance.

The eight-passenger XR cruises at a speed of up to Mach 0.81, with a maximum range of 2,098 nautical miles with four passengers, two crews and IFR reserves.