Contrary to reports in the press that Air Charter Travel was to cease operating its BAe 146 for commercial charters this month, the UK company says such operations will continue until the end of this year.

ACT operates two BAe146 jets, offering corporate, business and vip travel regionally and internationally, one with 66 seats and the other with 96 seats. The smaller jet has eight Club Class seats, with two teak tables, in the forward cabin, making it very suitable for vip charters.

The larger BAe146 200 series flies to Farnborough and back every day, as part of a military communications flying programme. It operates in support of EuroFighter and other military projects.

Because of this requirement, the availability of the aircraft is somewhat more restricted.

Said ACT managing director Tim Procter: “The special one-off adhoc charters have to be scheduled within the parameters of the aircraft availability; which covers weekends – Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We’ve done flights for the premiership football teams, rugby clubs, special event weekend work and châteaux trips to France. The likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Leeds have used our services. It’s just about the perfect size for the football and rugby teams as it accommodates all the players and coach.

“The national teams charter travel much more frequently as the season goes on. For normal Saturday games they’ll probably go down and back

by train or bus, but when their European commitments get a bit heavier, they have a lot more to cram in.” added Procter.

“Therefore, it can and does get very busy, particularly towards the end of the season. For the Worthington Cup final last season, we actually flew Liverpool and Manchester United on the same aeroplane, on the same day – which is quite an achievement!”

Top sports teams mean big business for any private charter company, so surely there is fierce competition to provide this service? Proctor said: “In the north-west of England, there really isn’t any competition. I mean, from time to time there are other 146’s with pockets of availability or turboprops – ATR’s and the like – but our aircraft is jolly nice and you can’t really compare it to anything else that’s available up there. I wouldn’t say it has any direct competition in that part of the world.”

Procter is honest about the price of chartering the aircraft. “It’s not a cheap aeroplane to operate, because of its considerable performance abilities and it is able to go on to short runways like London City. It costs around £3,000-£3,500 per hour, but that’s inclusive of everything.”

Procter says the range of the aircraft is ‘perfect’ for shorter journeys. “The 146 100 series is good for about two and a half hours,” he said, “and the 200 series is probably good for about three hours. BAe never designed those aircraft for long range travel – but it did design them to operate in and out of airfields like London City and Innsbruck. You won’t get another 66-seater vip jet in and out of London city – in that role, it’s totally unique.”