Belgian company, Flying Group, has announced that it will be adding a Challenger 604 to its fleet from the end of May 2004. This will bring the fleet to a total of 11 aircraft. The company is based at Antwerp Airport, but will be basing the new aircraft predominantly at Rotterdam Airport in the Netherlands.

“We have a fleet of Citations and Dassault Falcon aircraft, so the Challenger 604 is new for us. We chose it because our client wanted it,” said the company pr manager Ben Paindavin. “We operate the aircraft for that client, who was previously a customer of NetJets.

“When his contract ended, he was already a fractional owner in a Citation Excel of ours and he needed a bigger intercontinental plane. He simply fell in love with the Challenger 604.

“It was really important for him to have an intercontinental aircraft and the 604 is in the segment of large business jets whereas the Excel is a small to mid-sized jet,” he continued.

“Although the 604 will be a 12-seater, it’s not really about the capacity because the Excel itself was an eight-seater. The appeal of the aircraft for him had more to do with the spacious cabin and the range capabilities that it has.”

According to Paindavin, the company also proposed a Falcon 2000 and a Falcon 900 to the customer, but they chose the Challenger 604 because of its better range and the fact that it is slightly cheaper than the Falcon 900.

“The choice was really made on a logical basis and it’s a beautiful aircraft!” he said.

The customer was reportedly flying a lot with the Citation Excel and they will use the 604 both privately and for business purposes, although the company is not yet certain which destinations they will be wishing to fly to.

“The plane will be with us at the end of May or the very beginning of June,” Paindavin explained. “If you consider the range of the 604 – it reaches Asia, Europe and the United States, so everything is possible. It was particularly imperative to them to have an aircraft with such long-range capabilities. I believe that he will make a number of long-haul journeys with the 604.

“The aircraft will be available for charter, as part of the deal we made with the owner,” he continued. “It will be on our AOC, so our company will operate it for him, providing everything from maintenance to pilots and planning. We will commercialise it when it is free of course. As we are a big charter broker, we receive a lot of enquiries about transcontinental flights” he said. “We’ve done this already with our Falcon 2000, but with the 604, it’s a brand new segment and a whole new venture for us.”

Paindavin anticipates that the company might fly approximately 300 days per year and it expects, perhaps, half of this time to be dedicated to charter operations.

“If we have a request for charter, we make a quotation and if the customer is still interested in the aircraft, then we check with the owner to see if it is okay.”

The company hopes for a new customer base on account of the 604, because of its long-range capabilities.

“We believe that the costs of the aircraft will be attractive, because it is not as expensive as the Falcon 900 and it also has the superb range as an advantage,” he explained.

“I think that we will price the 604 on a very competitive basis, compared to the Falcon 2000 and 900 and compared to our competitors with other 604s.”

He continued: “It will be the first Challenger 604 to be available in Belgium and there are not many 604s available in Germany or Switzerland either, so it will be a very good new aircraft for Europe.

“We also have three Citation Mustangs and a CJ3 on back order,” Paindavin told us. “The CJ3 will replace the Bravos after some time. The Mustang is the new revelation in aviation of course and it has been announced as the ‘turboprop killer’! It will be a really new commodity for the whole market – we’re now talking about a personal jet, rather than a private jet.”

He explained: “It will be the equivalent of a luxury car – with wings! It will be well-priced, comfortable and it will be an aircraft for people who had always dreamt of flying, but never thought that

they would have the opportunity. In terms of fractional ownership, more than two of them have already been completely sold.” The Mustang is expected in 2006/2007.

“Things are changing so fast. Four years ago, we only had four aircraft and now at the end of May, beginning of June, we will have 11.” He concluded: “We are definitely growing more and more all the time. The Flying Group is really starting to count as an important business aviation company in Europe.”