The Ukraine’s Aerostar is looking forward to the coming year, as two of its domestic clients look likely to buy Hawker 800s. Operations manager Sergey Muzyka said: “We need a modern business jet for our company because our fleet currently consists of Yakovlev 40s. The Hawker will give us the additional range we need, although it’s not possible to certify this particular aircraft in the country.”

Aside from operating the aircraft for their owners, Aerostar will also make the Hawkers available for charter when possible. He added: “The purchases have not yet been completed, but we will certainly be looking at the minimum addition of one aircraft and hopefully two.”

The company has five Yakovlev 40s on its operator’s certificate, all of which it manages for private companies and a further three which are leased. “One aircraft in three of our fleet is made available for charter flights. We also have a Lear 60 on lease from a Turkish company.

“It’s difficult to fly with the Yakovlev 40 around Europe now, so they mainly work in the Ukraine but also fly to Moscow, Poland, Romania, Turkey and Cyprus. I think we’re in a good situation here because our aircraft have vip configurations ranging from a nine-seat to a 36-seat capacity,” said Muzyka.

Based at Kiev Airport, the company also operates larger aircraft such as the GV and the Global Express, which it sub-charters from other companies. “The Ukraine has only recently become independent, so there is not a great deal of money around. Therefore we often have to look outside of our company for charter business.

“It’s possible that with these latest additions we will stop leasing the three Yakolevs, but we’re now just looking for the best deal for our clients to try and get the aircraft on board by September,” he said.